WASHINGTON – Top House Republicans on Tuesday called on their colleagues to oppose bipartisan legislation setting up an independent commission to investigate the January 6th Capitol attack and holding their conference against a full account of the deadly uprising by a pro Trump mob positioned.
California Republican and minority leader Kevin McCarthy announced his opposition in a long statement Tuesday morning, and his leadership team later followed suit to recommend lawmakers vote “no” on Wednesday. Taken together, the actions indicated that the House of Representatives vote would be a largely partisan affair, further highlighting Republicans’ reluctance to grapple with former President Donald J. Trump’s election lies and their determination to draw attention from the attack on the Capitol distract.
Mr McCarthy had urged any outside investigation to look at what he termed “political violence” on the left, including by anti-fascists and Black Lives Matter, rather than looking closely at the actions of Mr Trump and his own Focus on supporters who led the uprising.
“Given the political misdirections that have undermined this process, given the now dual and potentially counterproductive nature of these efforts, and the short-sighted scope of the speaker who did not examine the interrelated forms of political violence in America, I cannot support this legislation,” said Mr. McCarthy said in a statement.
His opposition raised questions about the fate of the commission in the Senate, where Democrats would need at least 10 Republicans to agree to support their education. Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the minority leader, said he and other Republican senators were undecided and would “listen to the arguments as to whether such a commission is necessary”.
After the House Republican leaders originally proposed allowing lawmakers to vote as they see fit, they abruptly reversed course on Tuesday and issued a “leadership recommendation” calling for a no to the number Embrace the members to decrease the bill.
With the commission’s rejection, Mr. McCarthy essentially tossed one of his key deputies, New York City Representative John Katko, under the bus to protect Mr. Trump and the party from further scrutiny. Mr Katko negotiated the composition and scope of the commission with his democratic counterpart in the Committee on Homeland Security and approved it with enthusiasm on Friday.
It was all the more conspicuous when only days after Mr McCarthy got out of the way of being overthrown from the leadership of his No. 3, Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming, for refusing to criticize Mr Trump and Republicans who his electoral gaps favored to be dropped. Ms. Cheney has said that the commission should be tight and that Mr. McCarthy should testify about a phone call made to Mr. Trump during the riot.
California Democratic Chairwoman Nancy Pelosi immediately criticized the Republican opposition as “cowardice” and published a letter Mr. McCarthy sent her in February showing that the Democrats had taken up all three of his main demands for a commission that the The commission investigated was modeled on the terrorist attacks of September 11th.
In it, McCarthy said he wanted to ensure that each commission had an equal ratio of Republican and Democratic nominees, shared subpoena powers between those nominated by the two parties, and did not include “results or other predetermined conclusions” in their organizational documents.
The Democrats ultimately agreed to all three, but in his statement on Tuesday, McCarthy said Ms. Pelosi “refused to negotiate in good faith”.
“I suppose Trump doesn’t want this to happen,” said Representative Steny H. Hoyer, Democrat of Maryland and majority leader. “Enough said.”
Mr Katko predicted that a “healthy” number of Republicans would still vote in favor.
“I can’t say it clearly enough: this is about facts,” Katko told the House Rules Committee at a hearing on the bill. “It’s not about partisan politics.”
By encouraging Republicans to vote no, Mr McCarthy posed the commission as yet another test of loyalty to Mr Trump, highlighting a divide within the party between a small minority willing to question him and the vast majority that this is not.
New York Democrat Senator Chuck Schumer and majority leader promised to bring the matter up with Senate Republicans by quickly getting the legislation to vote in that chamber.
“Republicans can let their constituents know: are they on the side of the truth?” Mr. Schumer said. “Or do you want to cover up the insurgents and Donald Trump?”
Mr. McCarthy’s biggest complaint was the panel’s narrow focus on the insurrection itself – carried out by right-wing activists inspired by Mr. Trump – when he said it should take a broader look at political violence on the left, including a shootout by one Leftist – Activist who targeted Republicans in Congress at baseball practice four years ago.
Some Republicans have gone much further in the past few weeks, trying to whitewash the January 6 violence that killed five people, injured 140 police officers, and put the lives of lawmakers and Vice President Mike Pence at risk.
In a speech on the floor of the House on Tuesday, Georgia Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene said a commission was needed to “investigate all the riots that occurred in the summer of 2020 following the death of George Floyd,” not the attack on the Capitol. She also accused the Justice Department of ill-treating those accused in connection with the attack.
“While it is being captured and released for domestic terrorists, Antifa, BLM, the people who breached the Capitol on Jan. 6 are being ill-treated,” she said.
Catie Edmondson contributed to the coverage.
