Senate panels to release Jan. 6 Capitol security report in June

A pair of Senate panels investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol will release a report, including recommendations for how to improve security, early next month.

The Senate Rules Committee and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee are aiming to release the report on June 7 or 8, the first few days after the Memorial Day recess, two senators told The Hill. The date for releasing the report has not been publicly released or previously reported.

“I’ve been telling people that the first week we’re back,” said Sen. Roy Blunt (Mo.), the top Republican on the Rules Committee. “I think the 8th. I think we decided … to get it out that first day we were back is hard.”

Sen. John Thune (S.D.), the No. 2 GOP senator, predicted it would come out on June 7.

“The answers that we’re looking for may be found in some of these reports that are coming out … June 7 is when the one that Sen. Portman has been working on and it’s going to be a fairly lengthy and comprehensive report,” Thune said, referring to Sen. Rob Portman (Ohio), the top Republican on the homeland security panel.

The Senate Rules and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committees are months into their investigation into Jan. 6, with a focus on where security and intelligence unraveled as Capitol Police were overpowered by a pro-Trump mob that breached the building as then-Vice President Mike Pence and lawmakers were certifying the Electoral College vote.

Portman stopped short of confirming a date for the report, but said that he “would love to get it done that week,” referring to when the Senate returns from recess.

A Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee staffer, asked about the timeline for the report, told The Hill that “we’re still working to conduct a thorough and effective investigation, and we hope to release the first update on those efforts in the coming weeks.”

It wouldn’t be the first time the expected release date for the report has slipped, with senators initially predicting it would be out this month.

The two panels quickly launched a joint investigation into the attack in the days after Jan. 6 and held its first joint oversight hearing on Feb. 23, where they heard testimony from Michael Stenger, the former Senate sergeant-at-arms and doorkeeper; Paul D. Irving, former House sergeant-at-arms; and Steven Sund, former chief of the Capitol Police, who were all fired or resigned following the attack.

They included a second joint hearing in March with officials from the Pentagon, Department of Homeland Security, FBI and D.C. National Guard. They’ve been conducting closed-door interviews and they’ve gotten input from several committees.

“We’ll have several recommendations,” Blunt said.

The report, which two sources put around 90 pages, isn’t expected to focus on former President Trump or his supporters who breached the building, but instead on what the plan for security was on Jan. 6, what went wrong and recommend specific changes going forward. How deeply to wade into the broader context for the attack, including the former president, is still a point of negotiation.

“This is more preparation and response. It includes Capitol Police but also more DOD, National Guard and of course the intel community, you know, just why there wasn’t better information,” a senator told The Hill. “It’s important that we get these recommendations out because there are some very specific changes that need to be made.”