Could this be the straw that broke the camel’s back?
The abuse of Senate rules that has led to a de facto supermajority requirement to pass any legislation is at loggerheads with the desire of the majority party to establish a bipartisan commission to investigate the attack on the Capitol to stop the counting of Electoral College votes. Even Joe Manchin seems frustrated by this. POLITICO (“ Filibuster brawl amps up with GOP opposition to Jan.6 panel “): The filibuster has been on hiatus since Joe Biden took over. Senate Republicans are about to change that — over a bipartisan commission to probe the Capitol riot. After more than four months of letting their power to obstruct lie unused in the Senate, the 50-member Senate GOP is ready to mount a filibuster of House-passed legislation creating an independent cross-aisle panel to investigate the Jan.6 insurrection. If Republicans follow through and block the bill, they will spark a long-building fight over the filibuster’s very existence. The filibuster has spent months of lurking in the background of the Senate’s daily business, but the battle over the chamber’s 60-vote threshold will erupt as soon as next week. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is plotting to bring the House’s Jan.6 commission bill to the floor and daring Senate Republicans to block it. And GOP opposition is hardening by the day. According to interviews with more than a half-dozen Republicans on Thursday, there is almost no path to even opening up debate on the bill — much less passing it.
