Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) says his colleagues are “undecided” about whether they will support legislation creating a 9/11 style commission to investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, he said of the commission, “If it’s gonna go forward, it needs to be clearly balanced and not tilted one way or the other. So we have an objective evaluation.”
“It’s safe for you to report that we are undecided,” he added.
He also said that Republicans will “read the fine print” of the legislation establishing the commission, and if Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) holds a floor vote, “We’ll react accordingly.”
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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell says Republicans are “undecided” about commission to investigate Capitol insurrection:
— The Recount (@therecount) May 18, 2021
“If it’s gonna go forward, it needs to be clearly balanced and not tilted one way or the other. So we have an objective evaluation.” pic.twitter.com/NmPZtCuGF5
The House is expected to pass legislation that would establish a 10-member panel, evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans, to look into the events leading up to Jan. 6 and why former President Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol.
However, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has voiced his opposition to the bill. In a statement, he said, “Given the political misdirections that have marred this process, given the now duplicative and potentially counterproductive nature of this effort, and given the Speaker’s shortsighted scope that does not examine interrelated forms of political violence in America, I cannot support this legislation.”
“The presence of this political violence in American society cannot be tolerated and it cannot be overlooked. I have communicated this to our Democrat colleagues for months and its omission is deeply concerning,” he added.
Some Congressional Republicans have argued the commission should examine not just Jan. 6, but violence that occurred during Black Lives Matter protests last summer.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) blasted Republicans opposed to the legislation, as she said, “[It’s] disappointing but not surprising that the cowardice on the part of some on the Republican side not to want to find the truth.”