Senate

Manchin blasts McConnell for playing politics on Jan. 6 bill

by Jordan Williams - 05/27/21 10:56 AM ET

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) on Thursday blasted Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) for playing politics over a bill establishing a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Manchin issued a strongly worded statement saying there was “no excuse” for Republicans to vote against the commission and accused McConnell of blocking the commission to help the GOP avoid the topic ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, when the Senate majority will be in play.

“There is no excuse for any Republican to vote against the commission since Democrats have agreed to everything they asked for,” Manchin said.

“Mitch McConnell has made this his political position, thinking it will help his 2022 elections. They do not believe the truth will set you free, so they continue to live in fear,” he said.

My statement on the January 6th Commission: pic.twitter.com/ZfNhQfKzmh

— Senator Joe Manchin (@Sen_JoeManchin) May 27, 2021

The statement comes ahead of an expected vote on the legislation, which could come as soon as Thursday.

McConnell said Wednesday that Democrats were pushing the commission to keep former President Trump in the spotlight.

McConnell has blasted the House proposal as “slanted and unbalanced,” leading other Senate Republicans to oppose the provision.

Just two Senate Republicans have said they will vote for the bill: Sens. Mitt Romney (Utah) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska). Both voted to convict former President Trump for inciting a mob to attack the Capitol on Jan. 6.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who also voted to convict Trump, said she would vote to advance the bill so that she could propose an amendment to make changes to the bill.

That would leave the bill short of the votes needed to break a filibuster.

Manchin told reporters Thursday, however, that he would not nix the filibuster to pass the bill to form the commission.

Manchin and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) pressed their GOP colleagues on Tuesday to work with them on a bipartisan path to creating a commission investigating the events of Jan. 6.