House passes bill to create Jan. 6 Capitol riot commission

The House voted Wednesday to approve legislation to establish an independent commission to investigate the violent insurrection on Jan. 6 at the US Capitol.

Here are key things to know about the vote:

Read more about today's vote here.

CNN's Jeremy Herb and Ryan Nobles contributed reporting to this post. 

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer hasn’t said exactly when he will set up the first test vote to open debate on the Jan. 6 commission bill. But tonight, he took a step that will allow him to bring the bill to the floor as early as next week if he wants.

That first vote — which has not been scheduled — would require 60 votes since a Republican is certain to object.

If the Senate doesn’t act next week, it would slip into June after the Memorial Day recess.

The House approved legislation to create an independent and bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol.

The final vote was 252-175, with 35 Republicans joining Democrats in supporting the legislation.

Here is a list of the 35 Republicans who voted for the bill:

Rep. Bennie Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat who co-sponsored the Jan. 6 commission bill, said the 35 Republicans who voted in favor of the legislation "took a principal vote."

The Democrat said that when creating the legislation, they accepted what House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy wanted in the proposal because they "just want to get to the facts."

"Congress deserves the facts. Again, we have to protect the United States Capitol — the citadel of democracy in this country — and to see the actions of January 6, it's heartbreaking," Thompson told CNN.

The lawmaker praised Republican Rep. John Katko of New York for working with him to strike a deal to create the commission.

"I thank my ranking member John Katko, for being an honorable person in this process. He took a lot of heat, but he said I support it because it's the right thing to do," Thompson.

Despite the opposition already brewing in the Senate, Thompson said he's optimistic the bill will pass in the chamber. 

"I'm optimistic that it will pass, people said we wouldn't get more than 20 votes in the House from Republicans. We got 35, I'm optimistic on the Senate side," he said. 

"I think Democrats and Republicans owe this country a debt to get to the facts, to make sure that whatever this commission comes up with, we agreed to implement it. The senate, I hope they see it. You know, this is not Democrat or Republican. It's just not, for them to try and make it that, is absolutely wrong," he continued.

Republican Rep. Carlos Gimenez said he voted to approve legislation to create an independent commission to investigate the attack on the US Capitol because he saw a "breakdown in communications" on Jan. 6.

Gimenez was one of 35 Republicans who voted to support the measure, despite calls from party leadership to vote no.

"That's one of the great things about our party and the leader in particular. I have been able to break ranks with my party on a number of issues unlike the Democrats who don't break ranks at all," Gimenez said.

He said he wants the commission to find out what were the "security breakdowns" on Jan. 6 to make sure it never happens again.

"That's what I'm looking for," he said. "I am also very happy that our ranking member was able to do a bipartisan and get some concession from the Democrats. That's why I voted for this."

Rep. Don Bacon, a GOP member who voted for the Jan. 6 bill, said he did so because Democrats “basically gave us what we wanted.”

He also said it’s important to get to the bottom of the attack that day while saying that Republicans realize that Democrats want to drag this out to bolster their political fortunes.

Some context: The outcome of Wednesday's vote, demonstrates that while most rank-and-file Republicans fell in line behind leadership to oppose the bill, there is a growing faction that is willing to stand up to their own colleagues, even as some have tried to downplay the violence that occurred on Jan. 6. 

On a vote of 252 to 175, the House voted overwhelmingly to pass the bipartisan Jan. 6 commission. 

Thirty-five Republicans voted against the direction of their leadership, which had strongly urged them to vote no on the measure. 

The bill now heads to the Senate, where Democrats would need at least 10 Republican senators to sign on to the legislation. 

The House just voted to approve legislation to create an independent and bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

The final vote was 252-175, with 35 Republicans joining Democrats in supporting the legislation.

The top Democrat and Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee struck a deal last week to create the commission, breaking a months-long logjam between House leaders about how to structure the independent panel.

House Homeland Security Chair Bennie Thompson of Mississippi and the panel's ranking Republican, Rep. John Katko of New York, announced on Friday they had reached an agreement for the panel that would be modeled after the 9/11 Commission.

Here are key things to know about the commission:

The deal represented a significant bipartisan breakthrough on a proposal that had been stalled for months since House Speaker Nancy Pelosi first proposed a commission to investigate the insurrection at the Capitol in the days after the deadly attack.

What comes next: Supporters of the plan will need at least 10 Republicans in the Senate to join all 50 Democrats in the chamber in order to overcome a 60-vote filibuster and pass the bill. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, like House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, said he is opposed to the commission. McConnell wouldn't tell reporters Wednesday if he'd actively whip his fellow Republicans against it.

Pelosi strongly suggested today that she would approve a select committee in the House to investigate what led to the Jan. 6 insurrection if a vote to form the commission fails in the Senate.

Read more about the commission here.

Watch the moment:

In criticizing the bill to establish a Jan. 6 commission, North Carolina Republican Rep. Dan Bishop claimed "what was an image of a bipartisan commission has now become one more partisan attack."

Bishop suggested the commission would be partisan because it would be staffed entirely by Democrats.

"How can you have a bipartisan commission with an all Democrat staff?" Bishop asked. 

Facts First: It's not true that the staff of the commission would all be Democrats. The bill would create a 10-person commission, with each party getting an equal number of appointments and subpoena power.

Democrat Rep. Bennie Thompson and Republican Rep. John Katko, who lead the creation of the bill, pushed back on Bishop's claims.

Katko, who was one of 10 Republicans to vote to impeach then-President Trump over the events of Jan. 6, clarified that the commission would hire "as a team."

"Here's what the bill does. It requires consultation between the chair, appointed by the Democrats, and the vice chair, appointed by the Republicans, for any hiring of staff. And further requires that it be in accordance with rules agreed upon by the commission. The commission creates the rules as a team then they then hire as a team," Katko said.