Chuck Schumer says Senate will vote on Capitol riot commission this week

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will force a vote this week on the House-passed bill that would create a 9/11-style commission to investigate the January 6 Capitol attack.  

The New York Democrat said Wednesday on the floor that he filed cloture on the bill the night before, with a test vote expected Thursday.  

‘There is an obvious and urgent need to establish such a commission,’ Schumer said. ‘What happened on January 6 was a travesty. The culmination of months of deliberate lies about our elections, propogated by the former president – a dishonest man – and his allies.’ 

‘I shouldn’t need to remind this chamber of the scene on January 6. We were all there,’ Schumer continued. ‘At one point I was within 20 feet of these white supremacist hooligans,’ he added. 

Footage of Schumer’s narrow escape had been shared during former President Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial. 

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will force a vote Thursday on the House-passed bill that creates a 9/11-style commission to investigate the January 6 MAGA riot 

Supporters of former President Donald Trump raid the U.S. Capitol Building on January 6, which the Democratic majority in Congress wants investigated 

A man carries a Confederate flag through the U.S. Capitol during the January 6 attack. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called rioters on Wednesday ‘white supremacist hooligans’

The ‘QAnon shaman’ and other supporters of President Donald Trump walk through the hallways of the U.S. Capitol during the January 6 attack 

Schumer is having Senate Republicans go on the record with a vote after party leadership walked away last week from a bipartisan deal struck by House Homeland Security Chair Bennie Thompson and New York Republican Rep. John Katko, the committee’s ranking member. 

On Tuesday, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy announced that he would not support the legislation, with Republican Whip Steve Scalise asking members to vote no on the bill during the House’s floor vote Wednesday. 

The Democratic majority got the legisation through, with 35 Republican members defecting from the party and voting in favor of it. The final vote was 252-175. 

In the hours preceding the House vote, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell announced he would not be supporting the commission either – despite a public falling out with Trump. 

McConnell also didn’t vote to convict Trump for inciting an insurrection during the Senate’s impeachment trial in February. 

On Tuesday, Politico reported that McConnell had warned his GOP colleagues during a closed-door session that the report could be released in the middle of the 2022 election cycle, as Republicans try to take back the Senate and the House from Democratic hands.  

Republicans, including McConnell, have argued publicly that the commission would duplicate ongoing efforts by law enforcement and Senate committees looking into January 6. 

Democrats need 10 Republican senators to join them to override a filibuster. 

GOP Sen. Mitt Romney is the only public yes. 

Other moderates including Republicans Sens. Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Bill Cassidy and Rob Portman have suggested they could vote yes too, but that still falls short in the number Democrats would need. 

The mother of fallen Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick has requested meetings with GOP senators who are resistant to passing the bill, Politico also reported. 

Schumer called out McConnell on the Senate floor for what Politico had reported about the Kentucky Republican’s fears that it could hurt his party’s midterm prospects. 

‘Look, I am sorry if an independent commission to study an attack on our democracy isn’t a Republican ad-maker’s idea of a good time,’ Schumer scoffed. 

He also ribbed an unnamed Republican who called for ‘outside independent investigators’ to be put in charge of the investigation like the 9/11 commission. 

‘Hello? I hate to break it to my Republican colleagues, but the legislation passed by the House is modeled after the 9/11 commission and – you guessed it – would be chaired by outside independent personnel appointed by both parties,’ Schumer said.    

Schumer also argued an investigation into January 6 was important because ‘faith in our democracy, in our elections, has nose-dived.’ 

‘In a variety of polls, listen to this, in a variety of polls more than half of the Republican Party believes the election was rigged and Joe Biden isn’t the real president. That is a flashing red warning sign for our democracy,’ he said. ‘If the American people, a large chunk of them, believe the big lie. If the majority of Americans believe that our elections are not on the level, we are on the road to ruin. This grand beautiful, wonderful, several century-old democracy could teeter.’