Democrats in the House of Representatives are set to vote on the creation of a commission to investigate the riot at the U.S. Capitol.
On January 6, a pro-Trump mob swarmed the Capitol as lawmakers and then-Vice President Mike Pence were just beginning to tabulate the 2020 Electoral College vote. Biden defeated then-President Donald Trump by a 306-232 vote in the college.
“House Democratic leadership has scheduled votes on two bills stemming from the Capitol attack,” The Hill reported. “The top Democrat and Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee reached an agreement late last week on legislation to establish a bipartisan 9/11-style commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.”
The Homeland Committee on Friday agreed to form a 10-member commission — five Republicans and five Democrats — to probe the events. But House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy of California said that day that he hadn’t yet seen the agreement.
Meanwhile, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), who last week was ousted from her No. 3 position in House GOP leadership, said McCarthy should appear before any commission. “He absolutely should and I wouldn’t be surprised if he were subpoenaed,” Cheney told ABC News’s “This Week.”
“I think he very clearly and said publicly that he’s got information about the president’s state of mind that day,” Cheney said.
“All members, especially House and Senate leaders, should support this effort and there should be no delay in passing this bill to find the facts and the truth about what happened on January 6th and the events leading up to it,” Cheney said in a statement on the day the agreement was announced. “In the aftermath of national crises, such as Pearl Harbor, the Kennedy assassination, or September 11th, our nation has established commissions so the American people know the truth and we can prevent these events from happening again. The same thing is needed for January 6th and this commission is an important step forward to answering those fundamental questions.”
Cheney, who was one of 10 Republicans in mid-January to vote to impeach Trump, was ousted from her House leadership position on Wednesday. McCarthy supported her removal after she continued to blast Trump for pushing election fraud conspiracy theories.
“The elements of that commission are exactly as they should be. I’m very glad they rejected Leader McCarthy’s suggestions that somehow we should dilute the commission,” Cheney said.
Before the agreement to create the commission, Cheney said a probe “threatens” some Republicans who may have “played a role” in the event, she said on NBC’s “The Today Show.”
“I … think there is real concern among a number of members of my own party about a January 6 commission,” Cheney said. “I’ve been very public that that commission needs to be bipartisan, it needs to look only at January 6 and the events leading up to it, not at the BLM and Antifa riots last summer.”