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Republicans use filibuster to kill independent probe of January 6 coup attempt

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The Republican Party jumped the shark long ago.

Now it has jumped the whale.

Using filibuster, the current Trump-dominated Republican Party killed a clearly biparitsan attempt to create an independent commission to probe the January 6 insurrection which featured violence, forced entry into the U.S. capitol, several deaths, brutal attacks on capitol police, and images of a sea of MAGA hats.

The Washington Post:

The 54 to 35 outcome, which fell six votes shy of the 60 needed to circumvent a procedural filibuster, followed hours of overnight chaos as lawmakers haggled over unrelated legislation. The vote stood as a blunt rejection by Republicans of an emotional last-minute appeal from the family of a Capitol Police officer who died after responding to the insurrection, and an eleventh-hour bid by Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) to save the measure by introducing changes intended to address her party’s principal objections.

In its wake, many senators who had supported the commission were openly angry, as even the Democrats’ most moderate senator blamed Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) for killing a bill to score political points, instead of doing what was right.

The reaction from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY):

The craven McConnell is widely seen as (again) the driving force to direct the political mechanics to stop something that most Americans support but he has the raw power to stop. His reason: once again to maintain political power.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) expressed frustration Thursday with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) over his decision to block a commission to look into the violent Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by hundreds of Donald Trump supporters.

In an extraordinary meeting with reporters on Capitol Hill before an expected vote on the Jan. 6 commission, Murkowski took direct aim at the Kentucky Republican over his stated rationale for opposing the investigatory panel: that he would rather focus his party’s energy on President Joe Biden’s misdeeds to gain fodder for the 2022 midterm elections rather than risk alienating former President Trump and his supporters.

“To be making a decision for the short-term political gain at the expense of understanding and acknowledging what was in front of us on Jan. 6, I think we need to look at that critically. Is that really what this is about, one election cycle after another?” Murkowski said.

She added: “Or are we going to acknowledge that as a country that is based on these principles of democracy that we hold so dear. And one of those is that we have free and fair elections… I kind of want that to endure beyond just one election cycle.”

In a way, this now makes political prongnosticaion easier when it comes to the Republican Party. Yes, unless the White House gives GOPers what they want on infrastructure there’s a chance it’ll be filibustered. Should President Joe Biden nominate someone to the Supreme Court he/she will likely be filibustered to keep the seat open until Republicans regain power. And, yes, with the voting suppression efforts, the prevelance of The Big Lie, a GOP-dominated house in 2024 can be fully expected to nix certification of any Democrat elected to the White House.

It is a new era in American democracy.

Or what’s left of it.