Mitch McConnell reportedly asked other GOP senators to vote against the January 6 commission as a 'personal favor'

May 27, 2021

Mitch McConnell reportedly asked other GOP senators to vote against the January 6 commission as a 'personal favor'

Sen. Mitch McConnell asked GOP colleagues to block the January 6 commission as a "personal favor," CNN reported.
McConnell announced his opposition to the bill last week, alongside other GOP lawmakers.
In order to advance the bill, at least 10 Republican senators must support it.
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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell asked other GOP senators to vote against the January 6 commission as a "personal favor" to him, CNN reported Thursday.

Earlier this month, the House passed a bill to create a bipartisan commission that would investigate the January 6 insurrection. The bill has received pushback from Republicans, including McConnell, who announced his opposition to the commission on the Senate floor last week.

McConnell said the bill was "a purely political exercise" and accused Democrats of focusing on "things that occurred in the past."

CNN reported McConnell went further in denouncing the bill by reaching out to his Republican colleagues to block the 9/11-style commission, two lawmakers who McConnell contacted confirmed to CNN.

"No one can understand why Mitch is going to this extreme of asking for a 'personal favor' to kill the commission," one of the lawmakers told CNN.

Representatives for McConnell did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment. An aide to McConnell told CNN he was unaware of the senator's private conversations but it does not differ from his public remarks denouncing the commission.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer pledged to "put the Jan. 6 commission legislation on the floor of the Senate for a vote," regardless of GOP opposition to the commission. In order to advance the bill, at least 10 Republican senators must support it.

So far, only three GOP senators have indicated they will cosign the legislation: Sens. Mitt Romney, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski.