Partisan wrangling likely to block January 6 commission in Congress

Partisan Wrangling Likely To Block Jan 6 Commission in Congress | US Politics In :60 | GZERO Media

Get insights on the latest news in US politics from Jon Lieber, head of Eurasia Group's coverage of political and policy developments in Washington:

What is the status of the proposed January 6 commission to investigate the Capitol assault?

The January 6 commission was an idea originally from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who proposed a commission modeled after the very successful 9/11 commission, which looked at intelligence failures leading up to the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers in Manhattan on September 11th, 2001. Pelosi wanted to form a bipartisan commission to look at the Capitol insurrection on January 6th. Why it happened, how it happened, what the security failures were that led to it happening, who's responsible, and how to prevent it from ever happening again? And initially, Republicans were fairly cold to this idea because Pelosi had proposed a commission that was stacked in favor of the Democrats, with more democratic members than Republicans. House Republican minority leader, Kevin McCarthy, empowered representative John Katko from New York to go ahead and negotiate the commission. And eventually he came up with a compromised proposal that would have been evenly balanced between Republicans and Democrats, had subpoena power, and been able to produce a report by the end of the year.

Republicans, however, decided in the meantime that this commission was not good news for them. They began to be concerned that the Democrats would use this as a partisan opportunity to link them to the insurgence that took over the Capitol building, who were largely both in favor of Donald Trump, and also inspired by him to go and charge the Capitol. And the Republicans just don't want to be talking about this anymore. They want to move on and talk about Biden's policy agenda, where they think they're on much more stable political ground.

McCarthy now opposes the commission, which passed the House this week with about 35 Republican members voting for it, members who thought they were operating in good faith and typically want to be part of the problem solvers group in the House of Representatives. But it's unlikely to go anywhere in the Senate because minority leader McConnell opposes the commission, and probably represents the views of enough Republicans to successfully filibuster this thing.

So this isn't going to go anywhere. There may be congressional investigations into what happened on January 6th, but those investigations in the grand tradition of the hearings into Benghazi, and other purely partisan issues are going to be led by Democrats with Republicans. Maybe they participate, maybe they don't, but this is turning into a very partisan issue, as many other issues are in the US today.

More from GZERO Media

Throughout his Walmart career, Greg has earned nine promotions, moving from an hourly associate to now overseeing 10 Walmart stores. His story is one of many. More than 75% of Walmart management started as hourly associates, and the retailer offers competitive benefits to support associates on and off the clock. At Walmart, there is a path for everyone. Learn how Walmart is investing in opportunities for associates at all levels.

This summer, Microsoft released the 2025 Responsible AI Transparency Report, demonstrating Microsoft’s sustained commitment to earning trust at a pace that matches AI innovation. The report outlines new developments in how we build and deploy AI systems responsibly, how we support our customers, and how we learn, evolve, and grow. It highlights our strengthened incident response processes, enhanced risk assessments and mitigations, and proactive regulatory alignment. It also covers new tools and practices we offer our customers to support their AI risk governance efforts, as well as how we work with stakeholders around the world to work towards governance approaches that build trust. You can read the report here.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba adjusts his glasses during a press conference as he announces his resignation, in Tokyo, Japan, on September 7, 2025.
Toru Hanai/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

GZERO spoke to Eurasia Group’s Japan Director David Boling about why Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba resigned after less than a year in charge, and about who will replace him.

A girl is inoculated against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) during a vaccination event hosted by Miami-Dade County and Miami Heat, at FTX Arena in Miami, Florida, USA, on August 5, 2021.
REUTERS/Marco Bello/File Photo

Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo’s plan to repeal childhood vaccine mandates in the state’s public schools has prompted further debate over shots, states’ rights, and medical freedoms.

The body of Israeli Levi Itzhak Pash, who was killed when Palestinian gunmen opened fire at a bus stop at the outskirts of Jerusalem, is transported on the day of his funeral procession in Jerusalem September 8, 2025.
REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

A group of terrorists from the West Bank opened fire on civilians at a major junction in Jerusalem on Monday morning, killing at least six people and injuring another 21.