Trump Warns 35 'Wayward' Republicans After Vote for Jan. 6 Commission

Former President Donald Trump is warning the 35 House Republicans who voted for a measure to establish a commission to investigate the Jan. 6 incidents at the Capitol that there may be “consequences” coming from voters who understand the lawmakers are “being ineffective and weak.”

“See, 35 wayward Republicans — they just can’t help themselves,” Trump posted on his website Thursday, the day after the House voted  252-175 to create the commission. “We have much better policy and are much better for the Country, but the Democrats stick together, the Republicans don’t.”

He added that Democrats don’t have people like his critics Sens. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, and Ben Sasse, R-Neb., or like Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., but “unfortunately, we do. Sometimes there are consequences to being ineffective and weak. The voters understand!”

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and House GOP leadership had urged a “no vote” against the commission, but didn’t formally whip the members on the measure, reports The New York Post. 

The Senate is expected to vote about the commission next week, but the measure will likely not attract the 60 votes it will need to achieve a majority vote. Earlier this week, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell came out against the commission, saying Democrats handled the proposal in “partisan bad faith.”

Minority Whip Steve Scalise’s office also sent a letter to members to inform them that leadership was calling for party members to vote down the legislation, reversing the leadership’s position that it wouldn’t lobby members about the vote, according to CNN.   

Trump also released a statement before the vote to urge lawmakers to reject the commission and called the bipartisan deal reached between House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and ranking member John Katko, R-N.Y., “more partisan unfairness.”

“Unless the murders, riots, and fire bombings in Portland, Minneapolis, Seattle, Chicago, and New York are also going to be studied, this discussion should be ended immediately,” he said. “Republicans must get much tougher and much smarter, and stop being used by the Radical Left. Hopefully, Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy are listening!”

The legislation calls for each party to pick five commissioners to examine the security problems that allowed the pro-Trump protesters to enter the Capitol while the vote was happening to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election. 

The legislation bars government officials from serving on the panel. The commission would be required to submit a report by the end of the year with findings and recommendations to keep the Capitol safe from further violence. 

Republicans reportedly are saying the commission should investigate additional political violence instances, such as last summer’s Black Lives Matter protests, but Cheney and others argued that the incidents at the Capitol merited an investigation of their own. 

Along with Cheney and Katko, Republican lawmakers voting for the commission were: French Hill (Ark.), Steve Womack (Ark.) David Valadao (Calif.) Carlos Gimenez (Fla.), Maria Salazar (Fla.), Mike Simpson (Idaho), Rodney Davis (Ill.), Adam Kinzinger (Ill.), Trey Hollingsworth (Ind.), Mariannette Miller-Meeks (Iowa), Peter Meijer (Mich.), Fred Upton (Mich.), Michael Guest (Miss.), Jeff Fortenberry (Neb.), Don Bacon (Neb.), Chris Smith (N.J.), Andrew Garbarino (N.Y.), Tom Reed (N.Y.), Chris Jacobs (N.Y.), Dave Joyce (Ohio), Anthony Gonzalez (Ohio), Stephanie Bice (Okla.), Cliff Bentz (Ore.), Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.), Tom Rice (S.C.), Dusty Johnson (S.D.), Van Taylor (Texas), Tony Gonzales (Texas), Blake Moore (Utah), John Curtis (Utah), Jaime Herrera Beutler (Wash.), Dan Newhouse (Wash.), David McKinley (W.Va.)  

Meanwhile, support for the commission has been waning in recent months as more time passes since the day scores of protesters advanced on the Capitol, forcing lawmakers to scramble for cover as several swarmed the chambers. 

A Monmouth University poll found that most Americans thought an independent commission was needed to investigate the attacks, including about half of Republicans favoring a full inquiry, reports The New York Times.

But since then, GOP lawmakers have come together against a further commission while Trump has been tightening his hold on the party. The former president’s favorability ratings remain high among Republicans but are slipping among Americans at large, The Times notes. 

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