It is a puzzle why Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) is so attached to the filibuster when Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has promised that Democrats would get zero votes for the January 6 Commission. The West Virginia senator said that he was looking for 10 good patriots among his GOP colleagues to vote for it. Yet, he still refuses to end the filibuster. Are there even 10 good patriotic Republicans?
The actual vote for the commission faces a high hurdle with the filibuster in place, 60 votes. Without it, the Democrats could win with a simple majority.
Keep in mind, McConnell has killed all significant legislation from the House during his tenure in what he sees as his role, the self-described Grim (legislature) Reaper. The GOP has turned itself into a quasi-fascist party, no longer a democratic party, according to analysis by the V-Dem Institute at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden.
Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) said she supported the commission. Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Mitt Romney (R-UT) said they would support it, but only under certain conditions, according to The POLITICO.
Officer Brian Sicknick died in the attempted coup. His mother Gladys Sicknick went to Capitol Hill Thursday to try to convince GOP senators to support the commission into why her son was murdered. The senators owe her that, but none has been very open to talking with her.
All of a sudden Collins said she would vote yes in a test vote, as soon as Thursday. She still wanted to make amendments, and keep in mind, this senator promises big and delivers little. She told reporters:
‘I want to see a commission. … There are a lot of unanswered questions, and I’m working very hard to secure Republican votes for a commission.’
The Maine senator addressed two reasons the GOP said it would not support the January 6 Commission. Democrats would hire all the staff and the commission’s investigation would linger through and influence the mid-term election season.
In addition, Collins demanded the commission “chair and vice-chair language to jointly appointing staff” versus “in consultation with the vice-chair.”
If the two parties do not agree on staff, Collins’ “B plan” for staffing language would go to allowing the chair and vice-chair to select their own staffs.
She did not address McConnell’s vow to give the Dems no votes, and that might be the biggest reason of all for that side of the aisle to vote against it. Is the minority leader concerned with what the commission would find under all of the rocks? Or does he just enjoy shooting down all the Democrats’ legislation?
Friend of McConnell, Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) said he was “confident that congressional committees can complete a probe more quickly and with less drama than a commission:”
‘They want the 2022 elections to be a referendum on President Trump. And we think we can do our due diligence without giving them a political platform. So it’s pretty much about that simple for me.’
There were 35 Republican House members who voted for the January 6 Commission. If the Senate GOP cannot agree on this, is there a chance in hell for bipartisanship?
Feature image is a screenshot via YouTube.
