28th May, 2021
Agency Report
Thirty-five Republican senators blocked a bipartisan inquiry into the deadly assault on the Capitol on 6 January by Donald Trump’s supporters, ignoring criticism the lawmakers were playing down the violence.
Democrats and some moderate Republicans had called for a commission to probe the events up to and including Jan. 6 when hundreds of supporters of Trump, a Republican, stormed the Capitol.
The thugs fought with police, urged violence against lawmakers and delayed the formal certification of President Joe Biden’s election victory.
The violence left five people dead including a Capitol Police officer.
The measure mustered a 54-35 vote which fell short of the 60 votes needed to advance the legislation in the 100-member Senate.
The 35 no votes were all Republicans.
Six Republicans voted in favour of the commission.
“We all know what’s going on here. Senate Republicans chose to defend the Big Lie because they feared that anything that might upset Donald Trump could hurt them politically,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said after the vote.
The proposed commission would have had the power to force witnesses, possibly including Trump, to testify under oath about what happened that day.
Trump had urged Republican lawmakers to vote against it and warned of “consequences” for those who supported it.
It was the first time this year that Republicans used the 60-vote hurdle, known as a filibuster, to defeat legislation.