Capitol riot: House creates committee to investigate Jan. 6 attack

The House on Wednesday passed legislation to create a select committee focused solely on investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, a move that was panned by Republicans as too partisan but hailed by Democrats as necessary to give the American people a full accounting of what happened during the deadly attack. 

Democrats had wanted to form an independent panel modeled after the respected 9/11 Commission and the House passed a bipartisan bill to do so on May 19. But Senate Republicans filibustered the commission and effectively killed the creation of a nonpartisan body to probe the Jan. 6 attack. Without any pathway forward in the Senate, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., took matters into her own hands and used her power to pursue a select committee in the House that will be controlled by Democrats.  The committee is charged with investigating the circumstances surrounding the "domestic terrorist attack" and issuing a final report with recommendations for corrective measures. There's no timetable for the work to be completed, meaning the committee could keep the Jan. 6 attack in the headlines well into the 2022 midterm election year.