Momentum slows to a halt in probe of riot at Capitol

WASHINGTON — Momentum is stalling amid congressional efforts to swiftly investigate the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, threatened by logistical delays and deepening partisan disagreement about the scope of an independent inquiry advocated by Democrats.

After initial House and Senate hearings that scrutinized law enforcement and intelligence failures leading up to the insurrection, the pace of such public sessions has slowed to a halt, as lawmakers struggle to determine their next investigative steps. Meanwhile, a fight between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and her Republican counterparts over the scope of a Sept. 11style commission has intensified this week after she announced her plan for how it should be structured.

Now, a looming congressional recess is expected to delay resolution on both fronts until mid-April at the soonest — a pause that threatens to undermine the momentum and spirit of cooperation Democrats and Republicans had exhibited immediately after the riot.

In a letter to lawmakers Monday, Pelosi stressed urgency, writing that “we must get to the truth of how the January 6 assault happened, and we must ensure that it cannot happen again.” But the speaker acknowledged that “it is essential that we proceed in a bipartisan way in order to have a respected outcome.”

Rigid political head winds have formed in the weeks since hundreds of demonstrators, a mob summoned to Waashington by President Donald Trump and his supporters, stormed the Capitol in a deadly and failed bid to stop Congress’s certification of the 2020 presidential election. Most Democrats and Republicans, having embraced a spirit of bipartisanship as they grappled with shock from the attack, have returned to their political trenches to argue about Trump’s second impeachment and trial, and heightened security at the Capitol.

Those disputes have cast a pall over leaders’ vow to investigate the insurrection and its significance in the greater context of how the United States responds to such homegrown threats.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has complained that Pelosi’s proposed commission has too “narrow” a focus on domestic violent extremist groups such as white supremacists. Republicans, he has said, want the independent group to look at “political violence” more broadly — a position that reflects uneasiness in the GOP with agreeing to scrutinize the pro-Trump, anti-government groups that stormed the Capitol without also examining left-wing extremists who participated in racial justice demonstrations that turned violent last summer.

Many Republicans question whether a Sept. 11-style commission is useful.

“I think the better way to do it right now would be for the committees to continue to work on it and try to come to quicker conclusions,” said Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri, the ranking Republican on the Senate Rules Committee.

But that work has been receding from public view. The last hearings dedicated to the Capitol riot took place on March 5, as Congress turned its attention to finalizing a pandemic-relief stimulus package, and the Senate resumed confirming members of President Joe Biden’s Cabinet. Now only days remain before both chambers are expected to depart Washington for multiweek breaks.