McConnell indicated that he would be open to a committee strictly focused on security on the Hill.
“We could do something narrow that looks at the Capitol, or we could potentially do something broader to look at the full scope of the problem of political violence in this country,” added McConnell. “We cannot land at some artificial and politicized intermediate point.”
McConnell’s comments underscore the major challenge that Democrats face if they want – as Pelosi suggests – to recreate the spirit of the 9/11 Commission, a bipartisan review of the 2001 terrorist attacks that is considered a model for intensive post-action moment reviews nationally significant. Lawmakers have proposed similar “9/11 commissions” for the start of Covid in America.
McConnell’s comments come as two Senate committees are pushing with a joint bipartisan investigation into the security breaches that allowed a pro-Trump crowd to breach the Capitol while lawmakers certified Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory.
The Homeland Security and Senate Rules committees will hold a hearing next week with officials from the Pentagon, the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI – three entities that came under heavy criticism during the panels’ first hearing on Tuesday.
Former Capitol police chief Steven Sund and DC acting chief of police Robert Contee told senators that the Pentagon had delayed its urgent requests for help from the National Guard. They also indicated that they were not informed of intelligence reports suggesting that extremist groups were preparing for violence.
The next hearing, scheduled for next Wednesday, will have the testimony of Robert Salesses, assistant secretary of defense for internal defense and global security; Jill Sanborn, assistant director of the FBI’s counterterrorism division; and Melissa Smislova, who heads the Intelligence and Analysis Office of the Department of Homeland Security.
In addition, senators are to be informed of Capitol security measures on Wednesday by the Capitol Police Chief and Senate Arms Sergeant.