Susan Collins to support breaking Jan. 6 commission filibuster


Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) will vote against a filibuster that would block the formation of a commission to examine the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, The Hill and Politico reported Wednesday.
The moderate Republican wants a commission, but isn't sold on the House-passed bill that would create the commission in its current iteration. Still, moving it forward gives her the opportunity to make a couple of potentially key revisions, including having the chair and vice chair of the committee jointly appoint staff to avoid tipping the panel predominantly toward Democrats, as the GOP fears. Her other change involves disbanding the panel 30 days after it submits final report, rather than the 60 set by the House bill.
Sens. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) are on board with Collins' changes, Politico notes, and Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) may be next in line, but that still wouldn't get to the 60 votes necessary to prevent a filibuster. Collins, though, sounds somewhat hopeful, telling Politico "most people that I talk to believe that this would improve the bill regardless of whether they're for the commission." Read more at The Hill and Politico.
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.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
Stereophonic: an 'extraordinary, electrifying odyssey'
The Week Recommends David Adjmi's Broadway hit about a 1970s rock band struggling to record their second album comes to the West End
-
Shifty: a 'kaleidoscopic' portrait of late 20th-century Britain
The Week Recommends Adam Curtis' 'wickedly funny' documentary charts the country's decline using archive footage
-
June 19 editorial cartoons
Thursday’s political cartoons include a robot therapist and ICE-cold assault
-
Israel strikes Iran, killing military and nuclear chiefs
Speed Read Israeli officials said the attack was a 'preemptive' strike on Iran's nuclear program
-
Israel deports Thunberg after seizing Gaza aid boat
speed read The Swedish activist was delivering food and medical aid to Palestine, highlighting the growing humanitarian crisis there
-
Colombian senator shot on streets of Bogotá
speed read Miguel Uribe Turbay, who has announced his candidacy for next year's presidential election, was shot at a rally
-
Trump says Putin vowed retaliation for Kyiv strike
speed read The Russian president intends to respond to Ukraine's weekend drone strikes on Moscow's warplanes
-
Dutch government falls over immigration policy
speed read The government collapsed after anti-immigration politician Geert Wilders quit the right-wing coalition
-
South Korea elects liberal Lee as president
speed read Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party, was elected president following months of political instability in the wake of Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment
-
Nationalist wins tight Polish presidential election
speed read Karol Nawrocki beat Rafal Trzaskowski in Poland's presidential runoff election
-
Ukraine hits Russia's bomber fleet in stealth drone attack
speed read The operation, which destroyed dozens of warplanes, is the 'biggest blow of the war against Moscow's long-range bomber fleet'