The latest on Congress as Capitol riot commission faces key Senate vote

Senate Republicans are expected to block as soon as Thursday a bill creating a commission to investigate the pro-Trump riot at the US Capitol on Jan. 6, preventing a high-profile probe into the attack that led to the deaths of five people and about 140 police officers injured.

Here’s how the commission would work if it were passed in Congress:

The refusal of at least 10 Republican senators to vote for the commission underscores the deeply partisan divide that has emerged over the insurrection earlier this year and comes at a crucial time for Capitol Hill where Democrats are struggling to advance President Biden’s agenda. Some Democrats are citing the resistance by Republicans as a sign for why the Senate should blow up the 60-vote threshold to pass most legislation, given the narrowly divided chamber.

While some Republicans said months ago that a 9/11-type commission into the security of the Capitol was a necessity, they’ve since argued that it wouldn’t yield any new information amid other law enforcement investigations and arrests. Their opposition has infuriated Democrats, who assert that Republicans are trying to protect themselves ahead of the midterm elections.

Read more about today’s expected Senate vote on the commission here.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s office says that there is no guidance yet on timing of the procedural vote on the Jan. 6 commission because there are still ongoing discussions about votes on other matters before this one. 

The vote is still expected to happen today and negotiations are ongoing on timing.

Ten Republicans would need to break ranks in order for Democrats to get the 60 needed to overcome a filibuster and advance the Jan. 6 commission legislation.

As of now, only three GOP senators — Sens. Mitt Romney of Utah, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — have expressed their support for advancing the legislation. The vast majority of the 50 Senate Republicans are expected to oppose it.

But what is a filibuster? A filibuster is any use of obstructive tactics that would prevent a bill or measure from coming to a vote. There are no clear rules on what form a filibuster should take, including how long it lasts. As a result, the mere threat of filibustering a bill can be enough to delay or block its passage.

Passing legislation requires a supermajority of 60 votes to block a filibuster — votes that Democrats don’t have now and may not have even after the midterm elections next year. Republicans haven’t worked well with Democrats in years. Democrats have lost patience with Republicans. Neither party has a supermajority.

So, in the absence of any sign Republicans will work with them, a growing pool of congressional Democrats are saying they now back reinterpreting Senate rules so they can pass legislation with a simple majority. They’re going to need to convince their most conservative member, West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, to get on board, along with a handful of other Democratic holdouts.

Read more about the filibuster and and what could happen if the Senate rules are changed.

CNN’s Alex Rogers, Manu Raju and Ted Barrett contributed reporting to this post. 

Senate Minority Whip John Thune told CNN that Republicans have the votes to filibuster the Jan. 6 commission bill when it comes up for a procedural vote later today. He plans to vote to block the measure.

Asked if there would be 10 Republicans who might break ranks, Thune said, “I don’t believe there will be in its current form — in the House-passed version.”

“I think there are some issues with the commission, some flaws in the way it’s designed that it’s going to make it hard to get 10 Republicans to vote for it,” he added.

Thune said that his office “is trying to coordinate” a meeting with the late Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick’s mother, who is on Capitol Hill to lobby Republicans to back the commission.

Thune also said that a “deal is coming together” on the bipartisan Endless Frontier Act for a final series of votes on amendments before final passage later today. He said he didn’t expect Republicans to use all their debate time that could drag out the floor debate until the weekend.

“It’s still fluid. But it looks more likely, it will come together in the next hour or so.”

After that, the Senate is expected to proceed to the Jan. 6 commission bill.

Sen. Tim Scott, a Republican from South Carolina, said his meeting with the family of fallen Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick was fruitful, adding that “what they had to say was very important.”

However, asked if the meeting changed his mind on whether he would support the Jan. 6 commission, Scott said that wasn’t what the family wanted to talk with him about.

Sicknick’s family has pressed for a commission to find out what happened on Jan. 6, with the fallen officer’s mother telling reporters senators are “supposed to uphold the Constitution and right now I don’t think they’re doing that.”

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell objects to building the Jan. 6 commission, citing on Thursday the ongoing law enforcement investigations and the hundreds of arrests made, as well as activities in congressional committees.

Earlier this week, McConnell said that the bill “is a purely political exercise that adds nothing to the sum total of information.”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, meanwhile, argued that Republicans oppose the bill not because of how the commission is structured but because of politics.

Schumer called Jan. 6 “one of the lowest moments in our democracy,” noting the lives lost and members of law enforcement who were injured in the violent insurrection.

“More than half of the Republican Party now believes that 2020 elections were rigged, and that Joe Biden isn’t the actual President of the United States. Republican state legislatures across the country captured by Donald Trump’s big lie are tripping over themselves to restrict access to the ballot box,” he said.

He expressed the need to find the truth, restore faith in elections and “put a stop to this cancer in the Republican Party,” calling a bipartisan independent commission to investigate Jan. 6 “exactly what the doctor ordered.”

Senate Republicans are expected to block as soon as Thursday a bill aimed at creating the commission to investigate the pro-Trump riot at the US Capitol on Jan. 6, preventing a high-profile probe into the attack that led to the deaths of five people and about 140 police officers injured.

What the commission would do: The commission would attempt to find bipartisan consensus. The Democratic and Republican leaders of the House and Senate evenly split the selection of its 10 members. A subpoena can only be issued to compel witness testimony if it has the support of the majority of members, or if the commission’s chairperson, chosen by Democrats, and the vice-chairperson, chosen by Republicans, come to an agreement.

The commission is also required to submit to the President and Congress a final report by the end of 2021 and dissolve 60 days thereafter — about nine months before the 2022 elections.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki reiterated on Thursday that President Joe Biden wants to see a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection passed into law ahead of the expected vote on the commission in the Senate. 

She continued, “Certainly he’ll continue to convey that publicly, you know, I also think he recognizes that, you know, some of the people who oppose it aren’t necessarily looking for his point of view, which is very public and well known.”

A vote on a bill to establish the commission is expected to take place in the Senate on Thursday. The overwhelming majority of GOP senators are expected to filibuster the measure and, as of now, only two GOP senators – Mitt Romney of Utah and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska – have indicated they would be willing to support the current legislation. 

Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said she would vote for a procedural motion to begin debate on the legislation to be able to offer an amendment to make changes to the bill, according to her spokeswoman Annie Clark. 

The measure passed in the House last week, with 35 Republican members voting for the commission.

Gladys Sicknick, the mother of United States Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, is on Capitol Hill on Thursday and said she is hopeful that her meetings with Senators today will change their minds on whether to vote for the commission. 

Gladys Sicknick, the mother of fallen US Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, said that “the country” should be on the minds of senators as they cast their vote on whether to form a Jan. 6 commission, saying members are “supposed to uphold the Constitution.”

But she’s still hopeful after her conversations with senators, saying “they’re very good at what they do, so, we hope. That’s all we can do. We just have to hope.”

“They sit and listen very well, but bottom line is, we don’t know” how the vote will go, she added.

Sicknick has been meeting with multiple GOP senators today in an effort to ramp up support for the Capitol riot commission bill.

Only three GOP senators— Sens. Mitt Romney of Utah, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — have expressed their support for advancing the legislation, and Democrats need 10. The vast majority of the 50 Senate Republicans are expected to oppose it; West Virginia Sen. Shelley Moore Capito told CNN that the issue has become “too politicized.”

CNN’s Alex Rogers, Manu Raju and Ted Barrett contributed reporting to this post. 

Republican Sen. Susan Collins spoke with reporters following her meeting with fallen US Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick’s girlfriend, Sandra Garza, and USCP Officer Harry Dunn and DC Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone. Sicknick’s mother, Gladys Sicknick, did not join them for this meeting.

The Republican senator from Maine said she thinks her amendment to fix the “flaw” in the House bill addressed the major objection to the bill, and that she has secured the agreement of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on her amendment.

“My hope is that we can get, with this amendment, a sufficient number of Republicans to pass the bill. We owe it to the brave men and women who defended our lives that day. And in some cases did so at the cost of their lives. And that’s why I feel so strongly about that.”

Collins is one of only three GOP senators who have expressed their support for advancing the legislation – Democrats need 10. Republicans are in the Senate today.

Fanone said he came to educate lawmakers about his experiences that day.

“I want to see Congress come together in a bipartisan fashion and really get to the bottom of it, January 6, I think it’s necessary for us to heal from the trauma that we all experienced that day,” he said. “That’s why I think it’s so important.”

Garza said she’s frustrated by Republicans who still do not want to support the commission.

Garza said she wants senators “to be thinking about Brian Sicknick, Officer Liebengood, and Officer Jeffrey Smith. They sacrificed their lives that day. They really did. It doesn’t matter that Brian’s cause of death was natural” she said, using air quotes around the word natural.

“He still died defending them that day. And Officer Liebengood, and Officer Smith. They died as a result of the trauma that day,” she said.

Garza said she’s still hopeful that her conversations with senators will change minds.