On May 28, 2021, the United States Senate voted on the National Commission to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the United States Capitol Complex Act. The bill would have created a 10-member, bipartisan, independent commission — modeled on the 9/11 Commission — with equal representation from both parties, subpoena power shared between the chair and vice chair, and a mandate to issue a final report before the end of 2021.
The bill had already passed the House on May 19 with a 252–175 vote. Thirty-five House Republicans voted for it. The bill was co-authored by Republican John Katko and Democrat Bennie Thompson. It had bipartisan support, bipartisan structure, and bipartisan negotiation. It was exactly what Republican leaders had demanded: an independent, non-partisan investigation.
The Filibuster
In the Senate, the bill received 54 votes in favor — a clear majority. Every Democrat voted yes. Six Republicans joined them: Bill Cassidy, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Rob Portman, Mitt Romney, and Ben Sasse. But under Senate filibuster rules, 60 votes were needed to advance the bill. Thirty-five Republicans voted no. The bill died.
Senate Republicans had demanded that any investigation be bipartisan and independent — not a “partisan witch hunt.” Democrats gave them exactly that: equal membership, shared subpoena power, an independent structure with no sitting members of Congress. Republicans got every structural concession they asked for. Then they voted to block it anyway. The objection was never about the structure. It was about the findings they knew would follow.
What Followed
Because the bipartisan commission was blocked, Speaker Nancy Pelosi created the House Select Committee to Investigate January 6 on June 30, 2021. Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy withdrew his nominees after Pelosi rejected Jim Jordan and Jim Banks — both of whom had voted to overturn the election results on January 6. Pelosi then appointed Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, two Republicans, to the committee herself.
The select committee went on to hold eight public hearings, interview more than 1,000 witnesses, and produce an 845-page final report. It was, by any measure, the most comprehensive congressional investigation in modern history. Republicans spent two years calling it a “partisan show trial” — the very outcome they created by blocking the bipartisan alternative.
Bottom Line
A majority of the Senate wanted to investigate January 6. They were stopped by a minority using procedural rules. The Republicans who blocked the commission then spent two years attacking the investigation that replaced it as “partisan.” They sabotaged the bipartisan option, then complained that the result wasn’t bipartisan. It was a masterclass in bad faith. And it worked: by the time the select committee issued its report, the public narrative had been muddied enough that millions of Americans had been convinced the investigation itself was the problem, not the insurrection it was investigating.
Sources
- Politico: Senate GOP filibusters January 6 commission, May 28, 2021.
- U.S. Senate: Official roll call vote, 54–35, May 28, 2021.
- Associated Press: Commission vote coverage and Republican opposition.