Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer hasn’t said exactly when he will set up the first test vote to open debate on the Jan. 6 commission bill. But tonight, he took a step that will allow him to bring the bill to the floor as early as next week if he wants.
That first vote — which has not been scheduled — would require 60 votes since a Republican is certain to object.
If the Senate doesn’t act next week, it would slip into June after the Memorial Day recess.
The final vote was 252-175, with 35 Republicans joining Democrats in supporting the legislation.
Here is a list of the 35 Republicans who voted for the bill:
Rep. Bennie Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat who co-sponsored the Jan. 6 commission bill, said the 35 Republicans who voted in favor of the legislation "took a principal vote."
"They were there, they saw what went on, you can't, in reality, whitewash the events. It was an insurrection, it was a riot, whatever you want to call it. But it was not the orderly operation of the United States Capitol. And so, for those individuals who voted to get to the facts, we met Republicans, at every point to try to make this situation bipartisan," Thompson told CNN after the House voted to pass the legislation.
The Democrat said that when creating the legislation, they accepted what House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy wanted in the proposal because they "just want to get to the facts."
"Congress deserves the facts. Again, we have to protect the United States Capitol — the citadel of democracy in this country — and to see the actions of January 6, it's heartbreaking," Thompson told CNN.
"I thank my ranking member John Katko, for being an honorable person in this process. He took a lot of heat, but he said I support it because it's the right thing to do," Thompson.
"I'm optimistic that it will pass, people said we wouldn't get more than 20 votes in the House from Republicans. We got 35, I'm optimistic on the Senate side," he said.
"I think Democrats and Republicans owe this country a debt to get to the facts, to make sure that whatever this commission comes up with, we agreed to implement it. The senate, I hope they see it. You know, this is not Democrat or Republican. It's just not, for them to try and make it that, is absolutely wrong," he continued.
Republican Rep. Carlos Gimenez said he voted to approve legislation to create an independent commission to investigate the attack on the US Capitol because he saw a "breakdown in communications" on Jan. 6.
"I saw a break down in coordination and anticipation and I want to get to the bottom of how our security forces allowed a breach of the people's house, the Capitol," he told CNN after the vote.
Gimenez was one of 35 Republicans who voted to support the measure, despite calls from party leadership to vote no.
"That's one of the great things about our party and the leader in particular. I have been able to break ranks with my party on a number of issues unlike the Democrats who don't break ranks at all," Gimenez said.
He said he wants the commission to find out what were the "security breakdowns" on Jan. 6 to make sure it never happens again.
"That's what I'm looking for," he said. "I am also very happy that our ranking member was able to do a bipartisan and get some concession from the Democrats. That's why I voted for this."
Rep. Don Bacon, a GOP member who voted for the Jan. 6 bill, said he did so because Democrats “basically gave us what we wanted.”
He also said it’s important to get to the bottom of the attack that day while saying that Republicans realize that Democrats want to drag this out to bolster their political fortunes.
Thirty-five Republicans voted against the direction of their leadership, which had strongly urged them to vote no on the measure.
The bill now heads to the Senate, where Democrats would need at least 10 Republican senators to sign on to the legislation.
The final vote was 252-175, with 35 Republicans joining Democrats in supporting the legislation.
The deal represented a significant bipartisan breakthrough on a proposal that had been stalled for months since House Speaker Nancy Pelosi first proposed a commission to investigate the insurrection at the Capitol in the days after the deadly attack.
Pelosi strongly suggested today that she would approve a select committee in the House to investigate what led to the Jan. 6 insurrection if a vote to form the commission fails in the Senate.
In criticizing the bill to establish a Jan. 6 commission, North Carolina Republican Rep. Dan Bishop claimed "what was an image of a bipartisan commission has now become one more partisan attack."
Bishop suggested the commission would be partisan because it would be staffed entirely by Democrats.
"How can you have a bipartisan commission with an all Democrat staff?" Bishop asked.
"If you read the bill, you'll understand it is a bipartisan bill," said Thompson, who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee. "The staff will be picked just like the staff was picked for the 9/11 commission."
Katko, who was one of 10 Republicans to vote to impeach then-President Trump over the events of Jan. 6, clarified that the commission would hire "as a team."
"Here's what the bill does. It requires consultation between the chair, appointed by the Democrats, and the vice chair, appointed by the Republicans, for any hiring of staff. And further requires that it be in accordance with rules agreed upon by the commission. The commission creates the rules as a team then they then hire as a team," Katko said.