House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell have spent the last two days working to destroy a bipartisan bill that would establish a commission to investigate the violence that left five people dead, including a Capitol police officer.
The committee, which was modeled after the panel that investigated the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, was approved by the House by a vote of 252-175. The bill will now be sent to the Senate, where its fate is unknown.
The strong support for the independent investigation among Republicans - 35 out of 211 - revealed some cracks in the party's defense of Trump on a crucial vote. Trump is opposed to the establishment of a tribunal.
The commission was supported by all ten House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump in January.
The bipartisan outcome will cause Senate Republicans to reconsider their efforts to defeat the initiative.
McCarthy "got what he asked for" in a compromise on the structure of the commission, which will be tasked with wrapping up the investigation by December 31. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, a Democrat, said McCarthy "got what he asked for" in a compromise on the structure of the commission. McCarthy is a close Trump supporter.
McConnell had declared earlier in the day that he would not support the House bill, describing it as "the House Democrats' slanted and unbalanced initiative" and claiming that current congressional investigations are adequate.
Republicans will filibuster the bill in the 50-50 Senate, which is dominated by Democrats only since Vice President Kamala Harris can cast tie-breaking votes. Many bills require at least 60 votes to pass.
"There will continue to be no lack of vigorous inquiries," said McConnell, who said in January that Trump and others "fed lies" and "provoked" the mob that invaded the Capitol.
Pelosi's contingency strategy
If Senate Republicans block the commission, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, said she could hold routine committee hearings with "absolute subpoena power" to investigate the riot.
"But that's not the course we've chosen," Pelosi continued, explaining that a bipartisan, independent inquiry was needed to gain public confidence in its results.
The 10-member commission will issue a public report with guidelines for avoiding further attacks on the Capitol. It will be in charge of investigating security and intelligence failures surrounding the riot in which Trump supporters disrupted the formal congressional certification of Democrat Joe Biden's victory in the November election after he delivered an inflammatory speech.
"An independent 9/11-style investigation is crucial for eliminating the politics around January 6," Republican Representative John Katko said during the debate.
Katko collaborated on the bill with Democratic House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson.
The House bill, which was introduced last week, would give Republicans and Democrats equal control in nominating commissioners as well as equal say over witnesses.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has said that a vote on the bill will be scheduled. Republican officials, according to Schumer, are "caving to Donald Trump and showing that the Republican Party is still drunk off the Big Lie" that the 2020 US presidential election will be stolen from Trump by massive voter fraud.
Senator Susan Collins, a Republican moderate, told reporters earlier in the day that although she supported changes to the House bill, "I do think a commission is a good idea." Senator John Cornyn, a Republican, left the door open to negotiating amendments to the House bill.
Democrats in the House of Representatives have claimed that congressional hearings are inadequate. Representative Zoe Lofgren, D-California, who chairs the House Administration Committee, which has held hearings on the attack, told reporters that her panel found "significant mistakes" leading up to the attack.
Lofgren said her panel's work would not address questions about who incited the "howling mob" that called for Vice President Mike Pence to be hanged.
"That's why we need a bipartisan, respected, top-of-the-line commission to investigate what happened and why," Lofgren said.
"The media is going to use this (commission) to smear Trump supporters and President Trump for the next few years to cover up the real harm that is happening to the people of this country, which is breaking down our economy," Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene said on the House floor.
Trump urged Republicans to vote no on the bill on Tuesday, calling it a "trap" set up by "the radical left."
Republicans who vote in support of the commission risk provoking Trump's wrath ahead of the 2022 congressional elections, in which Democrats are vying to keep hold of the chamber.
