Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) missed the vote on establishing a bipartisan commission to investigate the events of January 6 on Friday despite describing the commission as "critical."
Sinema was not present for the roll call vote in the Senate and hasn't yet explained why but a spokesperson said on Friday that she would have voted yes if she had been there.
The Senate voted in favor of the House bill on the commission by 54 to 35 but failed to reach the required 60 votes to overcome the filibuster, so the measure could not advance.
Read more Mike Lindell Vows 'Deep Investigation' of Republican Governors Kemp, Ducey Mike Lindell Vows 'Deep Investigation' of Republican Governors Kemp, Ducey
Sinema issued a joint statement with Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) on May 25 calling for the commission to be approved.
"The events of January 6th were horrific. We could never have imagined an attack on Congress and our Capitol at the hands of our own citizens," the statement said.
"In the hours and days following the attack, Republican and Democratic members of Congress condemned the violence and vowed to hold those responsible accountable so our Democracy will never experience an attack like this again.
"A bipartisan commission to investigate the events of that day has passed the House of Representatives with a bipartisan vote and is a critical step to ensuring our nation never has to endure an attack at the hands of our countrymen again. We implore our Senate Republican colleagues to work with us to find a path forward on a commission to examine the events of January 6th."
Manchin voted in favor of the bill, though he also faced criticism for saying he was not willing to reform the filibuster in order to get the commission passed.
A Sinema spokesperson told The Daily Beast on Friday that "she will be entering into the Congressional record that she would've voted 'yes,'" on the commission but no reason for her absence has yet been given.
Ten other senators were recorded as "not voting" on Friday, including Democrat Patty Murray of Washington. Murray explained her absence, citing a "personal family matter", according to The Seattle Times.
Senator Pat Toomey was also a no-show on Friday despite previously saying he would support the commission. A spokesperson for Toomey said he had a "family commitment," according to GoErie.com.
"Had he been in Washington, Senator Toomey would have voted in favor of the motion to proceed to the January 6th commission legislation with the expectation that the Senate would consider, and Senator Toomey would have supported, an amendment that addresses Republican concerns about partisan staffing and the duration of the commission," the statement said.
Even if Sinema, Murray, and Toomey had voted on Friday, the majority would still have been short of the 60 votes needed to move the commission forward. The remaining eight absent senators were all Republicans, some of whom had publicly opposed the commission.
Newsweek has asked Senator Kyrsten Sinema's office for comment.
Miss_Adventurer on May 29th, 2021 at 10:34 UTC »
WTF is her problem?
st-mungos-rn on May 29th, 2021 at 10:12 UTC »
Must be cool to get paid more per year than most of us would see in several years and be able to miss doing the one thing your job actually entails.
provocative_taco on May 29th, 2021 at 08:40 UTC »
It’s astounding to me that elected officials can just “miss” votes.
U.S. Senators make $174,000/year. In 2019, the Senate was in session for 168 days the entire year. Sure, while they’re not at the Capital they might be engaging in constituent meetings and other state-level work, but critically, it’s not required that they actually do anything when not officially in session. Also, they get a month-long summer break which is mandated by law and which they get paid for (roughly $16k of their total salary).
The fact that they work about 100 days less than the average American and make about 11.5 times what someone working for the federal minimum wage makes in a year, means they have some fucking balls to miss a vote on ANYTHING. Straight up not showing up to vote without a legitimate reason should have far greater consequences than it currently does (which is absolutely fuck-all at the moment).