Keeping the Boss Happy
Congressional Republicans are preparing to kill the proposed bipartisan commission to investigate the January insurrection because pacifying Donald Trump is all that matters
I’m Michael A. Cohen, and this is Truth and Consequences: A no-holds-barred look at the absurdities, hypocrisies, and surreality of American politics. If someone sent you this email - or you are a free subscriber - and you’d like to subscribe: you can sign up here.
Today, in what is perhaps the least surprising news imaginable, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell announced that he would oppose a proposal in the House of Representatives to create a commission to investigate the insurrection that took place at the US Capitol on January 6. McConnell blasted the proposed commission as “slanted and unbalanced.”
This move comes a day after House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy took a similar position, directly undercutting the agreement hammered out by his own caucus members on the House Homeland Security Committee. In fact, Rep. John Katko, the ranking Republican member on the committee, had negotiated a pretty sweet deal for Republicans. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi had initially proposed a commission with 7 Democrats and 4 Republicans. Katko got Democrats to agree to having ten members, evenly divided between the two parties. Pelosi had also initially proposed giving the chairman unilateral subpoena power. Now subpoenas must be approved by either a majority of commissioners or the committee chair and vice chair.
Yet, none of that was good enough for the House GOP leadership. After initially saying that House Republicans should vote their conscience on the issue, House Minority Whip Steve Scalise reversed course and called on members to vote “no.”
The die was cast once former President Trump weighed in on Tuesday, calling the commission a “Democratic trap.” Indeed, only days ago McConnell had said he was undecided on the investigation. But after Trump sent out his latest deranged missive, the Senate Minority Leader quickly shifted course.
Truth be told, that talk of Republican support for the commission ever got this far is surprising. A thorough investigation into the events of January 6 would be a political loser for the GOP. It would expose President Trump’s efforts to provoke the insurrection and sow doubt about the results of the 2020 election. It would also, potentially, bring to light the role played by Republican members of Congress in aiding and abetting the effort. Since McCarthy spoke to Trump on the phone, as the riot was unfolding, he might even have been forced to testify. Why would the GOP House leadership want to go down that road and put a bipartisan imprimatur on a commission that would deliver a black eye to the GOP? And why would they want to inflame Trump, to whom they continue to yoke their political fortunes?
The same congressional caucus that looked the other way on two impeachment proceedings was not about to discover its backbone now.
Democrats will argue that the GOP’s hypocrisy is breathtaking. When Republicans controlled the House during the Obama years, they established a Select House Committee to look into the terrorist attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, which ended up being the longest and one of the most expensive congressional investigations in history. That inquiry took place after four Americans were killed by terrorists. January 6 was literally an attempted coup.
Democrats will also accuse Republicans of once again enabling Trump’s Big Lie on the 2020 election and sweeping the tragic events of that day under the carpet.
Of course, all of this is correct. But none of it will matter. Do you think Mitch McConnell cares if Democrats call him a hypocrite as they point out that not more than three months ago he delivered a Senate speech excoriating Trump for his role in the insurrection? If anything, Democratic attacks will only make him look better with GOP voters. Do you think Kevin McCarthy will lose sleep over once again carrying water for a president who put his life in danger on January 6? This is a man who has clearly made his choice to get back into bed with Donald Trump.
Or let’s take Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson, who is arguably the most vulnerable GOP Senate incumbent in the country (if he chooses to run). For the past several months, he’s been playing down what happened in the insurrection, even going so far as to suggest that he’d be more afraid to be at a Black Lives Matter protest than he was on January 6. Do you think he’s worried about alienating Democrats of swing voters in Wisconsin? Johnson, like his Republican colleagues, has clearly made the political decision that the path back to the majority involves keeping Trump happy and mobilizing his supporters by feeding them a steady stream of lies.
The sad reality is that it will likely work. Republicans are blocking an investigation into one of the darkest days in modern American history, and they will pay little political price for doing so. Democratic voters will be outraged, but they weren’t voting for a Republican candidate anyway. Rank-and-file Republicans will appreciate members of Congress standing up for President Trump and saying no to the ‘libs’. For the few GOP members in swing districts, many may vote for the commission. They are genuinely caught in a political bind and it’s striking how little McCarthy cares about their political dilemma. Katko is one of the more vulnerable members of the GOP caucus - a moderate in a swing district that went for Joe Biden in 2020. But McCarthy is clearly more focused on keeping the GOP caucus aligned with Donald Trump than he is in protecting members who could face a tough race in 2022. Moderates like Katko are a vanishing breed in the Republican Party and clearly the House GOP leadership is not going to extend to them any political favors if it means upsetting Donald Trump.
It would be nice if we lived in a functioning democracy where both major political parties took seriously upholding the rule of law and the strength of our democratic institutions, and refused to bow down to false prophets. It would be even better if one political party didn’t profit from failing to do any of these things. Alas, we don’t live in that country.
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Musical Interlude
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This piece is so negative and fatalistic it’s keeping me from sharing it. To be that negative and fatalistic becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Yes I know the situation is dire but it is doable. The Democrats have the capacity and will to figure this out. By being so negative and fatalistic it tells people why bother?