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35 House Republicans vote with Democrats to pass bill establishing Jan. 6 commission

19 May 2021
Dan Ackermann

The House of Representatives voted 252-175 on Wednesday to pass a bill to set up a bipartisan 9/11-style commission to investigate the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol riots.

Why it matters: Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy andGOP leadership oppose the commission, but 35 House Republicans voted in support of the bill, underscoring the fault lines within the party in the aftermath of the insurrection.

  • The amount of Republican support makes it far more difficult for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to try and dismiss the commission outright as a partisan effort.

What's next: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has promised the bill will get a vote, but it's still unclear how many Republicans will get on board.

  • McConnell told fellow Republicans Tuesday he could not support the agreement in its current form, two sources familiar with his remarks told Axios' Alayna Treene, and formally announced his opposition from the Senate floor on Wednesday.
  • 10 GOP senators are needed for the proposal to pass.

The creation of the commission has been delayed for months because Republicans have insisted its scope should be expanded to include violence by far-left protesters last summer after the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

  • McCarthy (R-Calif.) has argued it would be "duplicative and potentially counterproductive" because Congress and the federal government are carrying out other investigations into the riot.
  • Many Republicans are concerned the bill will be weaponized to subpoena members and could alienate members of the GOP base, as well as former President Trump — who was impeached by the House for inciting the riot.

Catch up quick: House Homeland Security Committee chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) announced last week that negotiators had reached an agreement with Rep. John Katko (R-N.Y.) on the commission.

  • Katko is one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump in the aftermath of Jan. 6.
  • It said the 10-person bipartisan commission "will be charged with studying the facts and circumstances of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol as well as the influencing factors that may have provoked the attack on our democracy" and would have the authority to issue subpoenas.
  • Based on the legislation passed by the House, the commission will be required to issue a final report with findings and recommendations to "prevent future attacks on our democratic institutions" by Dec. 31, 2021.
  • Former President Trump, who was impeached by the House for inciting the riot, criticized the commission in a statement on Tuesday, and urged House and Senate Republicans to not support what he called a "Democrat trap."
  • House Whip Steny Hoyer told reporters the House would pursue a a select committee of some kind even if the commission does not pass the Senate.

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.