Senate GOP Blocks January 6th Commission With Filibuster, Despite 6 Republicans Defecting to Support It

After many Republican defectors in the U.S. House, the GOP minority in the U.S. Senate was able to fend off a commission to further investigate the January 6th Capitol Riot. Many Republicans were afraid of this being used as political fodder against them, and the Democrats would attempt to tie them to the riot in any possible way, in their view.

Nevertheless, 35 House Republicans and 6 Senate Republicans defected, showing their potential anti-Trump bias, and voted in favor of the commission. That wasn’t enough though, and without using the nuclear option, the GOP was able to block the vote using the filibuster.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) are likely severely disappointed. In our view they would have used this commission to raise money for the Democrat party, target Republicans and Trump supporters politically, and bang the drum for months to come, while ignoring BLM and Antifa riots simultaneously that plagued cities for months.

U.S. Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) who was against the commission has gone on record asking if there will be a commission to investigation left wing riots that hurt small business owners and even threatened some residential neighborhoods as well.

From Axios:

The Senate failed to reach the 60 votes necessary to advance a bill creating a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, voting 54-35 as Republicans invoked the first legislative filibuster of the Biden presidency.

Why it matters: Democrats argue the commission is urgently needed to investigate one of the darkest days in U.S. history. Republicans fear the commission could be weaponized to damage them politically ahead of the 2022 midterms.

MAGAConservatives reported:

The six Republicans who voted in favor of the commission were Sens. Bill Cassidy (La.), Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Mitt Romney (Utah), and Ben Sasse (Neb.).

Former President Trump condemned the commission idea and will likely be posting a statement about it shortly. Although most people condemn violence and illegal activity from both political sides, this commission would have likely been too one-sided and increased the division in our nation in our view.

From CNN:

A crucial Senate vote on a bill to create an independent inquiry to investigate the deadly January 6 Capitol Hill riot failed Friday, falling short of the 10 Republican votes needed to advance and illustrating GOP efforts to move on from the insurrection that left five people dead and injured 140 police officers. The vote was 54 to 35, showing the bill had a bipartisan majority of support with six Republicans voting with Democrats. However, the bill needed 60 votes to advance. The six GOP senators who backed the bill were: Mitt Romney of Utah, Susan Collins of Maine, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Rob Portman of Ohio, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Ben Sasse of Nebraska. Nine Republican senators and two Democrats didn’t vote.