Partisan divide deepens in Congress

WASHINGTON, D.C. (NBC) – The effort to investigate the January Capitol attack is creating new dividing lines between politicians in Washington. Lawmakers are fighting over that and whether they need to wear masks inside the Capitol.

35 republicans joined Democrats supporting an independent commission to investigate the January 6th Capitol attack. The vote exposed a deeply divided, partisan Congress.

Representative Tim Ryan (D-OH) said, “We had people scaling the Capitol, hitting the Capitol police with lead pipes across the head and we can’t get bipartisanship. what else has to happen in this country?”

Representative John Katko (R-NY) pleaded, “Set aside politics just this once.”

Despite an even number of members from each party, many Republicans fear the commission favors Democrats.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said, “That’s somebody playing politics with it, not wanting to get to the core of what happened.”

A Senate vote is next. Republican leader Mitch McConnell says he’ll vote against it, calling the vote a “slanted and unbalanced proposal.”

The parties are also at odds over wearing masks in the Capitol. Republicans want to get rid of them. House Speaker Pelosi (D-CA) said they should focus on getting all their members vaccinated. Lawmakers took a vote. Republicans lost. Masks, for now, are still required.

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