House Prepares Action on January 6 Bills

Plus: Republicans urge an end to pandemic procedures.

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Good morning. A group of Senate Republicans are set to meet with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo today to discuss their latest offer for a potential bipartisan infrastructure bill. 

House to Vote on January 6 Commission

The House will vote this week on legislation to establish an independent commission that will gather facts about the January 6 attack on the Capitol and make recommendations for how to avoid similar instances of violence in the future. 

The vote comes after months of partisan gridlock over the makeup of the commission and its investigative scope. House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson negotiated the details of the proposal with the top Republican on the panel, Rep. John Katko. Katko was one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach former President Donald Trump after the riot.

“An independent, bipartisan commission will remove politicization of the conversation and focus solely on the facts and circumstances surrounding the security breach at the Capitol, as well as other instances of violence relevant to such a review,” Katko said when the deal was announced.

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  1. Avatar photo
    Ben Connelly

    First, I wanted to say I really liked this edition of Uphill. (Although it’s always high quality.)

    But one stark statistic jumped out at me: the respective vaccination rates in Congress. 100% of Democrats while many Republicans either refuse or won’t say (meaning they did but they don’t want their voters to know). That’s really sad. Vaccination shouldn’t be a political badge. The only reason 100% of Dems got it is that some of them want to prove they’re not Republicans. And vice versa. As a conservative who got vaccinated, I think making it a political badge is foolish.

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    Patrick O'Rouke

    I've got very mixed emotions on the debate over House operations. On one hand, I think it's silly of Pelosi to refuse to relax the rules because of obstinate Republicans who won't get vaccinated for some illogical, nonsensical reason. They're not a threat to her or anyone else who did the responsible thing and got vaccinated. And the more she makes an issue of this, the more likely they are to refuse to get vaccinated (TO OWN THE LIBS!). She's effectively putting down a marker that says they're never going back to normal and will wear masks and limit capacity in the House in perpetuity so long as she's Speaker. Just follow the CDC guidance and put out a statement about how irresponsible those members are and that it's on them if they get COVID or pass it to another unvaccinated loved one.

    However...long-term, I'd like to see a hybrid model of in-person and virtual Congress to develop. I don't think there's anything fundamentally wrong with letting people spend more time in their districts, and it perhaps would be a good thing for the folks who are always seeing their Reps as distant. There are definitely benefits to physically being in DC for the sake of the hallway conversations and relationship-building with colleagues. If there was a way to make that time a little more intense (e.g. two-week periods of 5- or 6-day weeks in and DC followed by a week of virtual work from the district and then a week of recess), I think that could be a better model than what we currently have, with Members flying up every week and then getting the hell out of dodge as soon as they can and spending very little time with their colleagues anyway. Plus you could get the side benefit of inviting constituents to participate/observe the sausage being made instead of them just assuming that it's all a bunch of nefarious leeches plotting against them.

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  3. Avatar photo
    cheerio

    In a normal state Val Demings would eat Rubio's lunch... but this is Florida (said in same tone and music as "This is Chinatown")

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  4. Avatar photo
    Adam Bridge

    Yes, we should be investing in US R&D. But businesses should also instead of pumping out money in dividends. Share holder value in the short run is great...for a while. Look at Intel who seems to have forgotten how to competitively make the product that made the company. They literally don't have the skill at making chips that offshore companies have.

    Investing in our own businesses BY OUR OWN BUSINESSES is vital. Boards need to see that. Screw the short-term profit people because they are undermining the businesses they're involved with.

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    1. Avatar photo
      cheerio

      Did you see that pharm CEO vs Katie Porter question/answer video? Priceless.
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arduwbwYB_w

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  5. Shaybult

    I strongly dislike, and have very little respect for, Marco Rubio. But every once in a while he surprises me, and this is one of those times. His comments on the Jan 6 Commission (at least those quoted in this article) make perfect sense.

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    Rochejaquelein

    Its so frustrating when you see occasional glimpses of the Marco Rubio that could have been. But jellyfish spine will return in due course and he'll be pandering to the Red Hats and groveling to the their God Emperor in Mar a Lago by Thursday.

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    1. Shaybult

      Wow, you put this so much better than I did. I agree 100%.

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    Jason Gibson

    you know it's really symbolic of what's happening in the society.


    Republicans: YOU HAVE TO OPEN UP EVERYTHING WHY ARE YOU NOT OPENING UP EVERYTHING!!!

    Everyone else: Because you won't get vaccinated. If you have just gotten vaccinated we call could be joining you in harassing Speaker Pelosi for her ridiculous stance.

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  8. Learnin4life

    Another helpful report by Haley that provides me with further insight into the thought processes of conservative devotees. Very informative .

    Also, since there is no direct vehicle available on a day to day basis, I want to give a shout out to Steve Hayes who acquitted himself nicely this past Sunday on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace. He was certainly a voice of reason on the matters he was asked to address, and I appreciated his willingness to speak directly about difficult subjects presently affecting the Repub party. More of this and less partisan pandering could lead to better understanding and willingness to reach agreement.

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  9. Very Old Grumpy Guy

    They will not get 10 Republican Senators. They will be three short, maybe 2 if Rubio has suddenly grown a spine.

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    1. James D

      I think they'll get 7, as even from a purely cynical perspective I don't see why any Senator who voted to convict wouldn't then vote for a commission which may help weaken Trump (and thus protect them), to say nothing of the fact that many of the people who voted to convict are genuinely principled.

      But I have a hard time seeing how they get to 60.

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  10. Avatar photo
    Rick Henderson

    So more than 44% of GOP House members either aren’t vaxxed or won’t say. Does this mean they’re disloyal to Trump, who not only greenlighted the vaccines via Operation Warp Speed, but also got one himself?

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      Paul Britton

      What do you wanna bet some of those turkeys HAVE been vaccinated but are lying to their constituents and saying they’re aren’t going to be?

      Remember that Trump himself got his shots without fanfare, and that the news that he’d done it just slipped out.

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      Rick Henderson

      In fact, it’s more than 50% who won’t say. Getting COVID to own the libs. Genius.

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      1. Andrew M

        I'd say it's likely they're from heavily Republican districts with large numbers of unvaccinated constituents. Publicly stating they got vaccinated would depress support for their reelection campaigns.

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          Rick Henderson

          If you're right, that's also depressing.

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          1. David R

            The degree of cynicism that most of the house GOP and more than a few senators have embraced is really depressing. I'm 100% sure none of the senators and no one in the house except maybe MTG & Gaetz really believes the "stolen election" BS or the anti-covid-vax propaganda.

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