(TheRedWire.com) – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and other Democratic leaders are continuing to push for a bipartisan commission to investigate the Capitol Hill riot on January 6. However, while Pelosi claims she’s negotiating with the GOP, it appears she’s really holding the House Republicans hostage, and if they don’t agree to her plan, she’ll turn to a Plan B without them. However, in the wake of Pelosi’s harsh words towards the GOP after the riot, it might be difficult for her to get cooperation from Republicans.
Benjamin Franklin once told a young John Adams that politics is the art of the possible. Insulting people doesn’t get one very far. As the Speaker, Pelosi is intentionally holding all the cards. As a result, the Speaker’s proposed bipartisan commission is falling apart. In the days after the riot, nearly three-dozen Republican House members sponsored legislation that would have created a commission similar to the 9/11 Commission after the terrorist attacks against New York City and Washington, DC, in 2001. It sits waiting for the Speaker’s consideration.
One Republican May Know What’s Really Going On
Rep. Rodney Davis (R-IL) said optimism for a bipartisan commission quickly faded after Pelosi seized control of the process to create a commission. He believes it was intentional on her part. House Democrats enjoy the smallest majority in nearly a century by only five members. To keep Democrats on board with her agenda, Davis argued that Pelosi needs her caucus angry at Republicans to keep Democrats together.
What House Republicans want is a comprehensive study into all forms of extremism. That includes Antifa, among others. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said that a commission ought to look at all the issues that lead to political violence. Unfortunately, House Democratic leadership isn’t interested in that.
Distrust Reigns in Washington
In the Capitol atmosphere after the January 6 attack, Pelosi wildly and irresponsibly claimed that Republican lawmakers were an “insider threat” and contributed to the violence. Between her accusation and hijacking the process of creating a 9/11 style commission, it left many in the GOP deeply upset, and her actions and charges drained any of the goodwill necessary to develop a bipartisan atmosphere.
Pelosi claims she still wants a bipartisan approach. However, if the GOP refuses her agenda, the Speaker said she’s prepared to ask two House committees to take up the matter on a partisan basis. Not only would that destroy any objectivity, but it could create more partisan rancor.
Is it any wonder the idea of a bipartisan commission is going nowhere fast?
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