Although a bill calling for a commission to investigate the January 6 insurrection was recently passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, it suffered a defeat in the U.S. Senate on Friday, May 28. Sen. Kyrsten Sinena of Arizona, a centrist Democrat elected in 2018, did not vote on the bill, although a spokesperson is saying that she would have voted "yes" had she been present.
Most of the U.S. senators who voted on the bill were in favor of it; there were 54 yes votes and 35 no votes. But under the rules of the filibuster, most legislation requires 60 or more "yes" votes in order to pass.
Business Insider reporter John L. Dorman notes, "Sinema was not at the Senate roll call vote and has not yet given a definitive explanation for her absence. The senator's spokesperson, Hannah Hurley, told the Arizona Republic on Friday that the senator backed the bill 'and has said so publicly, and she will be entering into the congressional record that she would've voted yes."
Ten other U.S. senators also missed that vote, most of them Republicans — including Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina, Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Sen. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota, Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri, Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, Sen. Jim Risch of Idaho and Sen. Mike Braun of Indiana. However, Patty Murray of Washington, a Democrat, didn't participate in that voter either.
Most of the Republican senators who participated in the May 28 vote were against a January 6 commission, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. But there were six Republican senators who voted in favor of it: Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah; Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska, Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio.
