The White House called Thursday for a “full, independent investigation” of the Jan. 6 pro-Trump riot at the U.S. Capitol, as a House-passed proposal to create a commission faces an uncertain fate in the Senate.
“The attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6 was an unprecedented assault on our democracy and demands a full, independent investigation into what happened,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said. “This is not a political issue, in the president’s view. This is a question of how we secure our democracy and the rule of law.”
Earlier this year, the White House said Mr. Biden supported an investigation but would leave it up to Congress to decide.
The House on Wednesday approved creating an independent commission to investigate the assault, with 35 Republicans joining all the chamber’s Democrats.
But the proposal faces GOP resistance in the evenly divided Senate, prompting House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to say she’s open to impaneling a Democrat-led select committee to investigate the assault.
Ms. Psaki said of Mrs. Pelosi’s comments, “we’re not at that point yet.”
SEE ALSO: Chuck Schumer accuses GOP of shifting ‘goalposts’ on Jan 6. panel
The White House spokeswoman said it was “incredibly disappointing to see how many Republicans, how many representatives have opted to turn this into a political issue, instead of doing what’s right … [and] vote in a way that supports the preservation of our democracy of our Constitution.”
“They have the opportunity to do that. If they don’t … we’ll have a conversation about it,” Ms. Psaki said.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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