Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.) is blasting Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Senate Republicans for their opposition to creating a commission to investigate the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
In a statement on Thursday, Manchin said, “There is no excuse for any Republican to vote against this commission since Democrats have agreed to everything they asked for.”
“Mitch McConnell has made this his political position, thinking it will help his 2022 elections. They do not believe the truth will set you free, so they continue to live in fear,” he added.
Read the statement below:
Last week, the House passed legislation that would create a commission to investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection when supporters of former President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol. The bill now heads to the Senate where its fate is uncertain.
Democrats would need at least 10 Republicans to join them in voting for the legisation for it to pass the chamber, due to the filibuster.
The filibuster is a procedural hurdle often used to delay or block legislation and essentially creates a 60 vote threshold for legislation to pass the Senate.
Senate Republicans are reportedly lining up opposition to the bill to ensure the required 60 votes remain elusive.
Manchin, who has previously voiced opposition to eliminating the filibuster, was asked if he would reconsider his stance if Republicans blocked the legislation. Getting rid of the filibuster would let Democrats pass legislation with just 51 votes.
He said, “I’m not willing to destroy our government, no.”
Question on January 6th Commission: "Would you be willing to break the filibuster in order to get this passed?"@Sen_JoeManchin: "I’m not willing to destroy our government, no. I think we’ll come together. You have to have faith there’s 10 good people." pic.twitter.com/b9nhxyWAZo
— CSPAN (@cspan) May 27, 2021
“I think we’ll come together. You have to have faith there’s 10 good people,” he added.
McConnell has previously said he opposes the proposal for the commission because he believes it is a “slanted and unbalanced proposal.”
He also claimed “that a part of this recommendation by the Democrats is that they would like to continue to debate things that occurred in the past. They’d like to litigate the former president into the future.”
“So, I think this is a purely political exercise. It adds nothing to the sum total of information,” he added.