Last week, Senate Republicans voted against the creation of a January 6 commission, with several lawmakers skipping the votes, resulting in a failure to reach the threshold of votes needed to pass. Among those who have skipped the voting was Arizona Democratic Senator Kyrsten Sinema, whose spokesperson said she would have voted in favor of the commission.
The bill calling for a January 6 commission modeled after the 9/11 group passed the House but failed in the Senate last week. Several lawmakers did not vote, including Sinema, but her spokesperson said that she would have voted in favor had she been present. The bill failed in the Senate despite having 54 votes to 35 votes in opposition with six GOP senators voting in support of the bipartisan bill.
Under Senate filibuster rules, a piece of legislation would require 60 votes or more to pass. Sinema’s spokesperson Hannah Hurley told the Arizona Republic last week that Sinema has publicly supported the bill, and she would have entered into the congressional record that she would vote in favor of the proposal. Aside from Sinema, Washington state’s Democratic Senator Patty Murray did not vote as well.
Republican Senators Pat Toomey, Richard Burr, Marsha Blackburn, Jim Inhofe, Mike Rounds, Roy Blunt, Richard Shelby, Jim Risch, and Mike Braun were also not present in the chamber to vote. Senators Mitt Romney, Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins, Ben Sasse, Rob Portman, and Bill Cassidy voted in support of the commission.
Sinema’s failure to vote on the commission resulted in backlash with AZCentral reporter Laurie Roberts calling out the Arizona Democrat for not voting on the commission. Roberts said that Sinema is letting herself get fooled by Senate Republicans.
Roberts noted that Sinema has admired the late GOP Senator John McCain, who was known for breaking step from his Republican colleagues, but added that Sinema is not as independent as she thinks she is. Roberts also criticized Sinema for her refusal to abolish the Senate filibuster. The reporter added that Sinema owes the state of Arizona an explanation as to why she did not vote on the commission despite stressing the importance of creating one.