Topline
As Senate Republicans are poised to block creation of a commission to investigate the January 6 attack on the Capitol, polls show a broad majority of Americans want to see the commission formed and don’t believe Republicans are working to strengthen democracy.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) leaves the weekly Republican policy luncheon on ... [+]
Key Facts
A poll from Quinnipiac University released Thursday found 59% of Americans do not believe the GOP is “acting in the best interests of democracy,” while 34% think it is.
64% of independents and 83% of Democrats in the poll say Republicans are not acting in democracy’s best interests, though only 16% of Republicans say the same.
By contrast, 49% of Americans in the poll say Democrats are not acting in the best interests of democracy, compared to 44% who say they are.
While the vast majority of GOP lawmakers oppose the commission, 56% of Americans and 58% of voters said they support it in a YouGov/Economist poll released Wednesday.
That’s in line with polls from SurveyMonkey and Daily Kos released earlier this month—though a Harvard CAPS/Harris poll released Monday found more division.
Most Americans also don’t believe January 6 should be swept under the rug, according to the Quinnipiac poll, which found that 55% believe it “should never be forgotten” while 39% said it’s “time to move on.”
Big Number
49%. That’s the share of adults who oppose recent voting laws passed in GOP-controlled states like Georgia and Florida that Democrats have slammed as “voter suppression,” compared to 39% who support them. However, 50% agree with the statement “it is necessary to pass new voting laws to protect election integrity,” while 43% disagree.
Tangent
Even as Republican officials try to get the Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, to overturn landmark abortion decision Roe v. Wade, most GOP voters don’t believe it will happen, according to the Quinnipiac poll. Among Republicans, 70% said they don’t believe the decision will be rolled back in the next few years, while 55% of Democrats said the same.
What To Watch For
While Republicans will likely sideline the commission, it remains unclear what will happen next. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has left the door open for a Benghazi-style select committee. Senate Minority Whip John Thune, asked if the commission could come back to the Senate floor in another form, told Forbes that Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and others “have been working on that.”
