After talking with top Democrats, U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said Sunday she was “optimistic” that Congress could strike a deal on a commission to probe the Jan. 6 Capitol riots amid lingering opposition from fellow Republicans to an existing plan.
That proposal, negotiated by House Democrats and the top House Republican on the homeland security panel, looked to be stalling last week when leading Republicans opposed it ahead of an initial vote in the Democratic-controlled House. It passed on Wednesday in the lower chamber with just 35 Republicans backing it. Senate Republicans hold the votes to block it there.
Collins, one of seven Republicans to vote to convict former President Donald Trump in his February impeachment trial on a charge of inciting the riot that broke out during the Electoral College’s certification of President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory and led to the deaths of five people, has broken with some in her party to signal openness to a commission, but she has called for changes to the plan.
The Maine senator told ABC’s “This Week” that she sees two “resolvable” issues on the commission after talking with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Maryland. She seemed bullish on an eventual deal.
One is timing. While the House bill established a year-end deadline for the commission’s report, Republicans have cited concern that the work could spill over into the 2022 midterms. Collins said there is “plenty of time” to complete the work.
READ MORE MAINE POLITICS COVERAGE
The other is staffing. Collins has echoed the concerns of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, that the Democratic chair of the panel would have more power than the Republican vice chair under the House measure, which calls for staff to be hired by the chair “in consultation with” the vice chair. Collins said both sides should either jointly appoint the staff or there should be equal numbers of staff appointed by each side.
“We need to figure out how we can enhance security, why we weren’t better prepared and we want the Capitol to be an open, accessible symbol of our democracy,” she said.
While Republicans loyal to Trump have attempted to rewrite the history of Jan. 6, minimizing the events of the day when a mob of Trump supporters used flagpoles as weapons and brutally beat police officers, some of the former president’s most fervent GOP critics have pushed for a firm year-end deadline.
Lee Hamilton, the former Democratic congressman who co-chaired the 9/11 commission with Republican Tom Kean, the former governor of New Jersey, acknowledged that such investigations are political because they are created by elected members of Congress. But he rejected firm deadlines, especially those created with upcoming elections in mind.
“You just have to take the time it requires,” he said. “If you have the right people, they’re going to do the right thing regardless of the political environment.”
Correction: Sen. Susan Collins was one of seven Republican senators who voted to convict Trump on an impeachment charge earlier this year. An earlier version of this story had an incorrect figure.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.