A bill to establish an independent commission to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection failed 54-35 in the Senate on Friday, with just six Republicans voting in its favor: Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Mitt Romney (R-Utah), and Ben Sasse (R-Neb.). Democrats were six votes shy of the 60 needed to bypass a GOP-led filibuster, leading many to sharply criticize the filibuster and its role in the democratic process.
Voting rights reporter Stephen Wolf noted that the 54 senators in favor of the commission represent over 60 percent of the country.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) joined Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) in arguing that ending the filibuster is necessary to "protect our democracy." Former Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D-Texas) and Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) echoed that.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Going forward, Friday's vote could now place "further pressure" on lawmakers to reform and weaken the filibuster, "despite Sen. Joe Manchin's (D-W.Va.) repeated affirmation that he supports a 60-vote threshold to pass most legislation," Politico writes.
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.