The GOP senators are calling for a panel to look into the “massive security failures” that occurred Jan. 6.
“Congress should not be allowed to investigate itself when it comes to the massive security failures of January 6,” the senators wrote in a statement. “We are calling for an independent commission to be appointed to investigate the security failures that allowed the Capitol to be breached on January 6th resulting in five deaths.”
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The senators said that the commission should be of “nationally recognized, non-partisan security experts,” and established in the “spirit of other bipartisan commissions.”
They added that without the independent commission, the investigation would “fall into the familiar territory of partisan squabbles ultimately resolving nothing.”
Pelosi said that the House will adopt new rules when it returns to session Jan. 21 to mandate stiff fines for bypassing security: $5,000 for the first offense and $10,000 for the second. The fines will be deducted from lawmakers salaries.
“It is tragic that this step is necessary, but the chamber of the People’s House must and will be safe, Pelosi said in a statement.
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The incoming fines for refusing to comply with new security measures come after numerous House Republicans berated Capitol Police officers on Tuesday and Wednesday for asking them to go through the metal detectors.
Several GOP lawmakers defiantly pushed past Capitol Police and sergeant-at-arms staff into the chamber without going through the magnetometers.
Snapchat plans to permanently ban President Trump’s account from the social media platform once President-elect Joe Biden takes office later this month, a Snapchat spokesperson confirmed to The Hill.
“Given the rules, procedures, and Senate precedents that govern presidential impeachment trials, there is simply no chance that a fair or serious trial could conclude before President-elect Biden is sworn in next week. The Senate has held three presidential impeachment trials. They have lasted 83 days, 37 days, and 21 days respectively,” McConnell said.
Cotton in his statement Wednesday evening also argued that the Senate would not be able to conclude a trial of Trump in the next six days.
“The House has passed an article of impeachment against the president, but the Senate under its rules and precedents cannot start and conclude a fair trial before the president leaves office next week,” he said.
Two events have changed the political dynamics with only a week left in the Trump presidency: The Trump-incited mob that stormed the Capitol, causing five deaths and forcing the House and Senate to go into hiding as they were counting Joe Biden
The House today will vote to impeach Trump; he will become the first American president to be impeached twice. Unlike the last time over a call to shake down the President of Ukraine to dig up dirt on candidate Biden this will have the support of some Republicans, led by the party s third ranking leader, Rep. Liz Cheney