White House: Biden ‘remains committed’ to Jan. 6 probe

The White House said Friday that President Biden “remains committed” to pushing for an independent investigation of the January assault on the Capitol after Senate Republicans blocked legislation that would have formed a bipartisan commission to investigate the attack.

“The president has been clear that the shameful events of Jan. 6 need to be independently and fully investigated,” principal deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters aboard Air Force One. “He remains committed to that and we will continue to work with Congress to find a path forward to ensure that happens.”

Jean-Pierre accused Senate Republicans of failing to defend the Constitution by voting to block the legislation on Friday. Six Republicans broke with the rest of the party to vote in favor of advancing the legislation.

“The events of Jan. 6 represented an existential crisis of democracy. That is why the president supported the bipartisan commission that was proposed and why he consistently called for a full and independent investigation into what happened and how we can ensure something like that could never happen again,” Jean-Pierre said.

“Members of the Senate aren’t sent to Washington to rubber stamp any party’s views. They swear on oath to support and defend the Constitution, and today unfortunately they failed to do that,” she said.

Jean-Pierre would not say whether Biden would look to form a presidential commission to investigate the attack in which a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol, but reiterated that Biden wants the group to be bipartisan.

The Senate voted 54-35 on the House-passed bill earlier Friday, falling short of the 10 Republican votes needed in order to overcome a legislative filibuster. Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Mitt Romney (Utah), Bill Cassidy (La.), Rob Portman (Ohio), Susan Collins (Maine) and Ben Sasse (Neb.) voted in favor of the bill.

The vote did not come as a surprise. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and others publicly opposed the creation of the commission leading up to the vote. McConnell argued that the commission was not needed given ongoing congressional probes and warned it could hurt Republicans in the upcoming 2022 midterm elections.

The bill approved by the House would have established a 10-member commission with the power to appoint members split between both parties, similar to the panel created after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.

Speaking to reporters during a trip to Ohio on Thursday, Biden expressed dismay that Republicans would block the legislation.

“I can’t imagine anyone voting against establishing a commission on the greatest assault since the Civil War on the Capitol,” Biden said during an unscheduled stop for ice cream in Cleveland.