Schumer warns he could bring Jan. 6 commission bill back to the floor

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) warned on Friday that he could force a second vote on a House-passed bill setting up a commission to probe the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

Schumer, in a letter to Senate Democrats, signaled that the measure could come back up after most Senate Republicans voted against it in a key test vote Friday afternoon.

“Senators should rest assured that the events of January 6th will be investigated and that as Majority Leader, I reserve the right to force the Senate to vote on the bill again at the appropriate time,” Schumer wrote.

The letter was shared shortly after Republicans successfully launched their first filibuster of the 117th Congress, pouring fuel on progressive calls for Democrats to get rid of the 60-vote hurdle needed to pass most legislation.

Schumer, during a floor speech Friday, lashed out at Republicans after the vote, accusing them of being in “fear or fealty to Donald Trump.”

“This vote has made it official. Donald Trump’s big lie has now fully enveloped the Republican Party. Trump’s big lie is now the defining principle of what was once the party of Lincoln,” Schumer said.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has argued the Jan. 6 bill is an attempt by Democrats to damage the GOP heading into the 2022 midterm elections.

Republicans had also raised concerns about the staffing language for the commission and viewed the end-of-year cutoff date for the panel’s findings as unrealistic. Sen. Susan Collins (Maine), one of the six GOP senators who voted to advance the bill, had crafted amendments to address those two issues.

Because the bill failed on a test vote, Collins was not able to offer her amendments.