Republicans block a committee on the assault on the Capitol in the Senate

The Republicans blocked this Friday the consideration in the United States Senate of a draft law to create an independent commission to investigate the assault on the Capitol on January 6, which left five dead, including a police officer.

The Democrats failed to reach the minimum support -60- to start the debate in the chamber on the formation of that commission in a procedural vote, the result of which was 54 “yes” and 35 “noes”.

The progressives, who have a slim majority in the chamber, needed the support of ten conservatives, but ultimately only got six.

The vote should have taken place on Thursday, but was delayed due to prolonged debate last night on another legislative proposal to increase the US's competitiveness vis-à-vis China.

On January 6, hundreds of supporters of former President Donald Trump (2017-2021) stormed the headquarters of the US Congress when a joint session of the two chambers was held to ratify the victory of Democrat Joe Biden in last November's elections. .

In addition to the five dead, about 140 officers were attacked by pro-Trump protesters, who were armed with axes, bats, hockey sticks and other weapons, according to authorities.

In the middle of this month, the lower house approved the draft with the proposal to create an independent commission of investigation on those events.

Said commission would take as a model the one established to investigate the attacks of September 11, 2001 and would consist of 10 members, equally appointed by Democrats and Republicans.

However, the leader of the Republican minority in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, had already warned that he would oppose the formation of that body.

Conservatives have argued that the commission should not only focus on the events of January 6, but also on the activities of the anarchist movement ANTIFA and Black Lives Matter during the summer of 2020, when protests took place outside to police brutality against African Americans.

The Democrats reject it because these groups did not violently break into the Capitol and consider that the assault deserves a specific investigation.