5/20/21 The House Passes the Jan. 6 Commission Bill. Now Comes the Hard Part.

The January 6 commission went to the House today, and to nobody's surprise, it passed. All the Democrats and 35 Republicans voted “Yes.”

The commission, if the bill survives the Senate, would have ten members, five appointed by Dems, five by Repugs. Both parties would have subpoena power. Commission members would be nongovernment (during the commission, at least). They'd be experts in policing, security, counterterrorism and other relevant fields. The report would be due by the end of the year.

Did you see the forest of "woulds" in that explanation? That's because the Senate Republicans have no intention of letting the bill go through. Even though the bill mirrors a Republican proposal for a bipartisan commission, introduced in January. Even though Bill Katko, Republican House member from New York, wrangled an agreement with the Democrats that included everything the Republicans said they wanted. Katko isn't a Trumper. He voted for impeachment after January 6. But still.

Before the vote, Katko said, “I urge all of you in the body, all of you on both sides — not just my side, not just your side, all of us — to set aside politics just this once ... and pass this bill."

In the Senate, Mitch McConnell is laying down a thick layer of obstruction. “After careful consideration," he said on the Senate floor, "I've made the decision to oppose the House Democrats’ slanted and unbalanced proposal for another commission.”

The "other commission" was the aforementioned proposal from January, which was a major effort to obfuscate the fact that Donald Trump literally tried to take over the U.S. Government in a coup attempt. "Slanted and unbalanced" refers to the Republicans' wanting the commission to investigate a sprawling list of events that would allow Republicans to criticize Democrats and water down Trump's insurrection.

I think that if the Senate tries to kill this commission bill, it's time to end the filibuster and pass it. The Trumpists' position is disgraceful. It's unpatriotic. It's CRAZY. But that's the Republicans under the influence of Donald Trump.
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/554450-house-approves-jan-6-commission-over-gop-objections?fbclid=IwAR320W2rYg8vICwFlQDJ4-MWuk7ZBLefWCovwmOuvom-76BZQrYiY2sQWHw

How would you feel if the bill is killed in the Senate? What would you do?

What should happen?

What do you expect will happen?

And why does it matter?