McCarthy, McConnell drive over their lieutenants to stop bipartisan Jan. 6 commission
"[...]...Yet both Kevin McCarthy and Mitch McConnell opposed creation of the commission. Even though they both originally supported it. And even though the commission plan was crafted, at McCarthy’s request, by Republican Congressman John Katko"
Thanks for the nuts and bolts. Katko's name didn't ring a bell at all. And Thune being McConnell's deputy is new to me too.
By Dennis Aftergut, opinion contributor — 05/24/21 02:30 PM EDT The views expressed by contributors are their own and not the view of The Hill
Earlier this year, McCarthy had dispatched House Homeland Security Committee ranking member Rep. John Katko (R-N.Y.) to negotiate with Chair Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.) on legislation setting up a commission. McCarthy may not have expected Katko to deliver Democrats' concessions, but he did. Then on May 18, McCarthy announced he couldn’t support the agreement.
McConnell allowed his deputy, Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), to state on May 17 that the commission bill would pass the Senate “in some form.” The next day, Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) stated unequivocally, “I don’t want [the Jan. 6 insurrection] swept under any rug.” In McConnell’s Republican caucus, Senators don’t usually issue such statements without checking with him.
McCarthy’s and McConnell’s decisions to publicly undercut caucus members had nothing to do with principle, everything to do with power. Both leader’s focus is on majority leadership. The route runs through .. https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2021-05-19/house-to-vote-on-independent-panel-to-probe-jan-6-attack .. Donald Trump. He unsubtly threatened their aspirations on May 18 when he lambasted the commission bill, saying, “Hopefully Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy are listening.”
How can we tell that McCarthy and McConnell are not acting out of logic or belief? Their rationales stand up to neither reason nor history.
McCarthy’s purported explanation was that a commission would “duplicate” prosecutions of the Jan. 6 rioters. But unlike prosecutions, commissions recommend measures to prevent recurrences, as the 9/11 Commission did successfully with its recommendations of 100 percent airline passenger screening and creating a Department of Homeland Security. Tellingly, no one complained of duplication by the 9/11 Commission and prosecuting the 9/11 terrorist surviving co-conspirator.
McCarthy also said the commission bill failed to allow investigating other acts of “violence” from the George Floyd protests, or the 2017 shooting of Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.). Of course, those events are not remotely equivalent to a mob’s riot in the U.S. Capitol aimed at stopping Congress from constitutionally certifying an election.
McConnell argued that the Commission would duplicate on-going Congressional investigations. But the 9/11 Commission and Congress both investigated .. https://fas.org/irp/congress/2002_rpt/911rept.pdf .. the 9/11 terrorist attack.
Manchin blasts McConnell for playing politics on Jan. 6 bill Mother of slain Capitol Police officer urges GOP senators to back Jan...
With a Senate vote on the commission soon to come, McConnell’s hold on his caucus may dispirit accountability proponents. If the bill fails in the Senate, Democrats, having tried mightily for bipartisanship, can appoint a traditional Congressional Select Committee, as they did in Watergate .. https://www.senate.gov/about/powers-procedures/investigations/watergate.htm .. or with the Iran-Contra .. https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/image/HI_Iran_Contra.htm .. scandal during the Reagan era. That way, they could pursue the truth without an impossible six-month timeline, as Republicans required in the pending bill.
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