The January 6 Commission Could Be What Finally Ends The Senate Filibuster Rule (Updated)

The New York Times headline today: As Talks Bog Down, Hopes for Bipartisan Deals on Biden’s Priorities Dim.

The Washington Post headline today: Biden’s agenda imperiled as his priorities stall in Congress and a debt fight looms.

Hmmm, I’m sensing a theme here from the media villagers.

The “Grim Reaper of Democracy,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has already flatly declared that President Biden’s agenda will get no votes – zero, zip, nada – from his gang of obstructionist Republicans as he deploys his policy of “total obstruction” again, as he did to President Obama.

“When someone shows you who they are believe them; the first time.” – Maya Angelou

Yet President Biden continues to negotiate in good faith with Republicans who have only demonstrated bad faith thus far. He has promised that if Republicans keep behaving badly, he will abandon his “bipartisan” approach and go it alone with just Democratic votes, if necessary. (Um, Joe, it is necessary).

The Hill reports, “Democrats and the White House have pointed to the end of May as the timeline for Republicans to signal whether they will get on board.”

This plan presumes that President Biden has all Democrats on board. He currently does not.

Republican negotiators are only engaging in dilatory tactics, and will vote against whatever compromise they may reach. Last week’s vote on the January 6 Commission was the perfect example.

Why did only 35 House Republicans vote for a compromise bill that conceded everything Republican negotiators wanted? As the New York Times reported: “There is really one overriding reason: They fear it will hurt their party’s image and hinder their attempts to regain power in next year’s midterm elections.”

You mean hurt your image more than this? 147 Republican lawmakers who still objected to the election results even after the Capitol attack.

Republicans have no interest in discovering the truth, because they are afraid that a number of Republicans will be implicated in the failed coup d’etat, and were complicit in inciting the seditious insurrection on January 6, and some might even be charged by the Department of Justice. That’s the kind of stink that doesn’t wash off. (h/t Donkeyhotey).

President Biden is forced to dance with the devil because certain Democrats, e.g., Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema for example, have convinced themselves that they possess mythical powers of persuasion  to convince ten of their Republican colleagues to vote with them on a Democratic bill to break a filibuster.

I’m sorry, but have they met the “Grim Reaper of Democracy,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell?

Ask yourself, have either Senator Manchin or Sinema ever delivered enough Republican votes on any piece of legislation to break the Senate filibuster rule? (Trick question, the answer is no).

These prima donnas’ belief in their own mystical powers of persuasion borders on the delusional, and is unsupported by anything in the historical record. It is time for these prima donnas to get over themselves. Republicans are  not that into you (except to the extent that you undermine the Democratic agenda and empower the GQP policy of “total obstruction” with your appeasement).

The “bipartisan” House bill for a January 6 Commission is likely to become the first test of the Senate filibuster rule. POLITICO reports, Filibuster brawl amps up with GOP opposition to Jan. 6 panel:

The filibuster has been on hiatus since Joe Biden took over. Senate Republicans are about to change that — over a bipartisan commission to probe the Capitol riot.

After more than four months of letting their power to obstruct lie unused in the Senate, the 50-member Senate GQP is ready to mount a filibuster of House-passed legislation creating an independent cross-aisle panel to investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection. If Republicans follow through and block the bill, they will spark a long-building fight over the filibuster’s very existence.

[T]he battle over the chamber’s 60-vote threshold will erupt as soon as [this] week. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is plotting to bring the House’s Jan. 6 commission bill to the floor and daring Senate Republicans to block it.

And GQP opposition is hardening by the day. According to interviews with more than a half-dozen Republicans on Thursday, there is almost no path to even opening up debate on the bill — much less passing it.

“I don’t think there will be 10 votes on our side for it,” said Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind). “At this stage, I’d be surprised if you’re gonna get even a handful.”

But what about the mystical powers of persuasion of Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema? (he asked,  dripping with sarcasm).

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has been circumspect about his use of the filibuster, leaving the tool untouched so far this Congress as his conference has advanced Democratic bills confronting hate crimes, planning water infrastructure and increasing American competitiveness. But the Jan. 6 commission — and talking about former President Donald Trump for months on end — is a bridge too far for the GQP.

But a coup d’etat to overthrow American democracy and replace it with a GQP authoritarian dictatorship under the corrupt and criminal Donald Trump, that was a bridge they were perfectly ready, willing and able to cross.

Now that McConnell is pushing his conference toward a filibuster of a bipartisan bill, Democrats see an opportunity to begin making their case to reluctant members that the 60-vote status quo is unsustainable.

As an incredulous Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) put it: “How do you go forward if you can’t make it work over something like an independent commission?”

“That’s their problem. They can prove how difficult life is with the filibuster if they’re not careful,” said Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin. “When the filibuster is actually used, it becomes an exhibit in the case against continuing it.”

[O]verall, Senate Republicans have rapidly shifted into wholesale opposition to the commission concept this week, reasoning that tanking a commission in May of 2021 is better than setting up Trump headlines well into the midterm year.

So Republicans are going to follow up their seditious insurrection and failed coup d’etat on January 6 with a coverup of their heinous crime, hoping to make their violent seditious insurrection and failed coup d’etat disappear down the memory hole like it never happened. Good luck with that.

UPDATE: Conservative columnist George Will appeared on ABC’s This Week on Sunday, and said January 6th Should Be ‘Burned Into the American Mind as Firmly as 9/11’ (video clip link):

As George Stephanopoulos offered his surprise that the commission’s formation has become “controversial,” Will said the reason for that is “we have a political party defined by the terror it feels for its own voters. That’s the Republican Party right now.”

“Every elected official is frightened of his voters, therefore doesn’t respect his voters and doesn’t like his voters and is afraid that a vote for this would be seen as an insult to the 45th president,” Will continued.

Will added, “I would like to see January 6th burned into the American mind as firmly as 9/11, because it was that scale of a shock to the system.”

“I think there will be a commission, but it is controversial for that reason.”

GQP senators aren’t exactly looking forward to the moment.

“It’s a dicey vote. It’s set up to be anti-Trump, pro-Trump vote, in my view,” said one undecided Republican senator. “As somebody who voted not to impeach, I still am interested in finding out what happened.”

What’s more, Trump has directly linked himself to the vote on the commission. He criticized the 35 House Republicans who supported it and is publicly leaning on the Senate GQP to defeat it. It would not be lost on Democrats that Republicans appear to be using the filibuster to help Trump avoid months of headlines about his actions stoking the Jan. 6 riot.

Here’s the best part:

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), one of the filibuster’s strongest supporters in the Democratic Party, seemed aghast that his GQP colleagues are on track to block the bill.

“So disheartening. It makes you really concerned about our country,” Manchin said. Asked if that is an abuse of the filibuster: “I’m still praying we’ve still got 10 good solid patriots within that conference.”

WTF is wrong with this man? Was he born yesterday? Did he just fall off the turnip truck? His mystical powers of persuasion couldn’t convince ten Republicans to impeach Donald Trump for inciting an insurrection against the U.S. government, even after the Trump mob of domestic terrorists stormed the Senate chamber looking to “hang Mike Pence” and kill them some senators. What makes him think that he can convince ten Republicans to vote to prevent a coverup of their crime? Prayer ain’t going to fix what’s wrong with these Republicans.

If there ever was a reason to end the Senate filibuster rule, this is it. It is being abused to cover up the crime of sedition and insurrection by Republicans.

Sen. Manchin voted to impeach Donald Trump for inciting a seditious insurrection against the U.S. government, he cannot now in good conscience block a January 6 Commission to investigate that crime. He took an oath to defend the Constitution against all enemies, both foreign and domestic. It is a matter of duty.

McConnell and Senate Minority Whip John Thune have not begun twisting arms, but GQP leadership has delivered an unmistakable message that the commission needs to be disposed of on the Senate floor when Schumer brings it up. McConnell’s close ally, former Senate Intelligence Chair Richard Burr (R-N.C.), has been making an aggressive case against the bill.

Burr, the most surprising vote for Trump’s conviction at his impeachment trial, said there are no changes that could be made to the legislation to win his support.

Burr and Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) said they expect committee reports on the Jan. 6 pro-Trump riot at the Capitol to come down in June, arguing that would preempt the need for a bipartisan commission with subpoena power. Not all Republicans are sold on their line of thinking.

Congressional committees supplement an investigation, not supplant it. See the 9-11 Commission and the Special Counsel’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

“I’m not going to worry about the party. I’m going to worry about what’s the right thing for the country and for the Senate. And I support the effort to learn more about the attack on Jan. 6,” Romney said. “Susan Collins made good points in insisting the staff be a bipartisan staff and making it clear that we really do intend to be finished by the end of the year. I will not have this go into an election year.”

Besides Burr, the other six Republicans like Romney that voted to convict Trump are either undecided or supportive. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) has been most emphatic in his support for the commission.

But it’s hard to find a path to 60 votes without a more general acceptance in the GQP that a commission is needed. Several senators reported that in the GQP caucus room, momentum is building the other way.

Moreover, it’s an open question whether the Senate will wrap up work on Schumer’s American competitiveness legislation before its upcoming recess. That means the commission vote could slip until June, which would fail to capitalize on the current mayhem in the House GQP over Rep. John Katko’s (R-N.Y.) deal with Speaker Nancy Pelosi on the investigative panel.

Blunt said Republicans could make it difficult for Schumer to quickly move onto the Jan. 6 commission if Schumer tries to force a vote [this] week. He said Schumer’s competitiveness bill “wouldn’t succeed” if he attempted to rush it through to move toward the commission vote.

Again, the “Grim Reaper of Democracy,” Mitch McConnell has vowed no Republican votes for any Democratic agenda bill. So how is this any different than what we already expect from Republicans? They are threatening to do what they are going to do anyway. Pretty much an idle threat.

But if Republicans blocked the competitiveness bill, that too would be the first filibuster of this Congress. Progressives are itching to start the filibuster fight, regardless of which bill prompts the first one of this Congress.

“If we get to a point where compromise, bipartisanship is not going to work, and it’s just basically delaying what we need to be doing, then we need to face the issue of filibuster,” said Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii). “I’d like to see it dealt with now.”

That moment has arrived. The time is now. It’s time for all Democrats to get on board with nixing the Senate filibuster rule.

This goes double for our senator, Kyrsten Sinema. Last week her constituents held rallies around the state to end the Senate Filibuster. Progressives hold Phoenix rally urging Sinema and Kelly to end the filibuster:

A large group of progressives gathered at Civic Space Park in downtown Phoenix early Thursday evening where speakers and attendees urged Sen. Kyrsten Sinema and Sen. Mark Kelly to end the filibuster.

Sinema has said she doesn’t support ending the filibuster — a tactic used in the Senate to delay or block floor votes on bills without a 60-person majority — while Mark Kelly has been less public about his thoughts on the matter.

Approximately a couple hundred people gathered in the park around 5:30 p.m. where democratic lawmakers and local activists urged the two moderate democrats to end the filibuster and open up opportunities for new bills being passed with a slim majority.

At its Spring State Committee on Saturday, where hundreds of Democratic state committee members gathered virtually, Arizona Democrats pass resolution urging Sinema, Kelly to junk filibuster:

State committee members passed three resolutions, which are not binding but express the will of the party.

One formalized the party’s position on the U.S. Senate’s legislative filibuster, which requires 60 votes for the chamber to act on most legislation. The filibuster is a major obstacle to advancing Biden’s agenda in the tied Senate, where Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris casts the tie-breaking vote.

The “We Call For An End To The Filibuster” resolution called on Sinema, D-Ariz., and Kelly, D-Ariz. to declare support for ending the filibuster and voting to eliminate it from Senate rules.

Terán said she appreciates the senators’ desire to work with Republicans, “but we need to make sure that every option is on the table to make sure that we get Joe Biden’s agenda passed.”

Or even to ensure that there is a January 6 Commission to investigate the darkest day in American history, a date which will live in infamy, and needs to be prevented from reoccurring again on January 6, 2025.

Sen. Sinema voted to impeach Donald Trump for inciting a seditious insurrection against the U.S. government, she cannot now in good conscience block a January 6 Commission to investigate that crime. She took an oath to defend the Constitution against all enemies, both foreign and domestic. It is a matter of duty.