Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) became the first Republican senator to share that he would vote for a January 6 commission bill recently passed by the House of Representatives.
The Utah senator tossed his support behind the bill passed by the House. The bill needs 10 Republican senators to pass.
“I would support the bill,” Romney said.
The bill was passed by the House on May 19 in a 252-175 vote — 35 Republicans voted in favor of it. The independent commission would investigate the U.S. Capitol riot on January 6.
Mitt Romney, who had expressed some reservations of the Jan. 6 commission bill, just told me he would be a YES if the bill came forward for a vote.
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) May 24, 2021
“I would support the bill.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) noted that he plans to bring the bill to the Senate floor in an effort to create an independent commission.
The White House has slammed lawmakers who they say have turned “this into a political issue.” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said last week that it is “incredibly disappointing to see how many representatives have opted to turn this into a political issue instead of doing what’s right for our country and our constitution.”
Additionally, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) previously said in response to the lack of Republican support for a commission, “All I say to my Republican friends and I do have them, is take back your party. This is the Grand Old Party, a party that has done so much for our country.”
I will bring to the Senate floor the legislation passed by the House to create an independent commission to investigate and report on the January 6th attack on the Capitol.
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) May 24, 2021
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) has expressed her support for an independent commission but with some modifications to the bill.
“I strongly support the creation of an independent commission,” Collins said on ABC’s “This Week.” “I believe there are many unanswered questions about the attacks on the Capitol on Jan. 6.”
Collins, however, believes that it could get passed if it is agreed to complete the investigation by the end of the year and that the commission’s staffing is bipartisan, according to Politico.
Several other Republican lawmakers have shared that they oppose a commission to probe the Capitol riot, including Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who told CNN, “The process has been hijacked for political purposes. And I think that’s a shame. … There is another way to do it, and that’s use our standing committees.”
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) also is not supporting the House-passed legislation.
Asked what changed, Cornyn told CNN: “The process has been hijacked for political purposes. And I think that's a shame. … There is another way to do it, and that's use our standing committees.”
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) May 24, 2021
Asked if he would be open to the bill with some changes, Cornyn said: "It's a moot issue from my perspective because we can just do this through the standing committees."
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) May 24, 2021
Republican lawmakers have made various reasons as to why they oppose such a commission, including that it is “too early” to create one, concerns about it “dragging on indefinitely,” and concerns about the impact it could have on the 2022 elections.