WASHINGTON — The Jan. 6, 2021 attack is once again the talk of Capitol Hill.
While Democrats are hanging replica plaques across the Capitol pressuring Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) to display an official congressionally-mandated plaque honoring Capitol Police officers for defending the Capitol on Jan. 6, President Donald Trump continues quietly pressuring Republican congressional leaders to formally investigate the bipartisan select Jan. 6 committee that disbanded in 2023.
“The president wants it,” Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-GA) told Raw Story.
Even so, the ball seems to be in Johnson's court, and he’s remained mum since saying he would launch his own J6 investigation at the start of the year.
Low-level form of legislative civil disobedience
In 2022, while the Capitol was still undergoing post-riot repairs, lawmakers from both parties came together and passed a law requiring a plaque for the west front of the Capitol — where officers were first overrun on Jan. 6, 2021 — honoring the men and women of the Capitol Police who protected Congress in the face of violent insurrectionists.
Three years later and there’s still no official plaque, which is why a handful of House Democrats, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), unveiled their own replica plaques this week.
“It is a very low-level form of legislative civil disobedience,” Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) told Raw Story.
As the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, Raskin says the speaker is flaunting the very Constitution he swore an oath to uphold.
“The speaker is in violation of the law. That's an indefensible posture for a speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives,” Raskin said. “Our poster replicas are saying, we are going to go ahead and honor the officers until Mike Johnson starts following the law.”
To many of the lawmakers left trapped in the House gallery on Jan. 6, 2021, let alone Capitol Police officers themselves, the plaque is personal.
“It's important so that nobody ever forgets the truth,” Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-TX) told Raw Story.
Escobar says the refusal to hang the plaque shows Republican "tough on crime" rhetoric is mere lip service.
“It’s evidence of the fact that they really aren't interested in supporting law enforcement. That's what it comes down to,” Escobar said. “They are so afraid of Donald Trump, and these were his soldiers.”
Democrats accuse the speaker of thumbing his nose at the Capitol Police officers who protect him daily.
“It's pathetic,” Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) told Raw Story. “The speaker won't put it up. So I don't know what the hell's the problem, but it's an insult to our brave men and women in law enforcement who protected us that day.”
McGovern’s the top Democrat — or ranking member — of the House Rules Committee, which plays the all-important role of providing parameters for debate before any measure can be voted on by the full House of Representatives.
The veteran Massachusetts congressman says he plans to use that perch to regularly remind Republicans of their party’s sin of omission.
“I'm gonna raise it in every Rule I do now,” McGovern said. “Why isn’t the plaque up? Why is it not displayed? Why is he disobeying — why is the speaker disobeying the law?”
The White House is engaged
On the other side of the aisle, some Republicans are also wondering where the official plaque is.
“I'm surprised, personally surprised it hasn't been done," Loudermilk said. “I don't think that's controversial. Regardless of who did what, who started it, who was responsible — there was violence here that the Capitol Police were engaged in.”
Even though Loudermilk wants to investigate the former select Jan. 6 committee, he says commemorating the heroism of the Capitol Police is the least Congress can do.
“We've got some colleagues saying, ‘Well, there's nothing more than a tour.’ I'm like, ‘No, it was way beyond that.’ There was violence,” Loudermilk said. “There was violence on both sides. I mean, of course, police had to counter the violence. I don't have a problem with having the plaque honoring the Capitol Police and what they've done.”
Still, Loudermilk dismisses the work of the bipartisan Jan. 6 select committee, which is why he continues calling on the speaker to let him formally launch his own investigation.
“There's been no movement on it. I would say there's been a negotiation going on, but it's just been a one-sided negotiation,” Loudermilk said.
With Congress rushing to wrap up an array of measures ahead of their July Fourth recess, Loudermilk is hoping to get the speaker’s ear this week.
“I'm hoping by the end of the week we'll have something,” Loudermilk exclusively told Raw Story. “The White House is engaged.”
After interviewing upwards of 1,000 witnesses, reviewing thousands of documents and releasing a detailed 814-page report on their findings, Democrats who served on the panel dismiss this latest White House effort as a smokescreen intended to distract from the damning details they uncovered.
“The January 6 select committee may have produced the most successful legislative investigation, certainly in the 21st Century, and one of the most successful ones in the history of the US Congress,” Raskin told Raw Story. “We produced a report. They have not laid a glove on a single detail in that report. They're trying to rewrite history.”