Opinion: Not a dime’s worth of difference between McConnell and McCarthy

When it comes to the big lie that propelled the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by Donald Trump’s supporters, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) had positioned himself in the past as somewhat more reasonable than his counterpart in the House, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield).

But in joining McCarthy in opposing an independent commission to investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection, McConnell has shown that, as the late George Wallace once said about the two major parties, there’s not a dime’s worth of difference between the Republican leaders.

After suggesting that he might be open to arguments in favor of a commission, McConnell last week came out against the idea, calling the House proposal for an independent panel “slanted and unbalanced.”

He got his way Friday, when Senate Republicans, with a few honorable exceptions, filibustered the House-passed bill to create a commission.

In attacking the idea of a commission, McConnell claimed that Democrats “would like to continue to debate things that occurred in the past” and “to litigate the former president into the future.”

Maybe so, but Democrats aren’t the only ones trying to “litigate the former president.” Trump himself continues to complain that the election was fraudulent and has denounced a Jan. 6 commission as a “Democrat trap.”

The more important point is that an independent commission, with an equal number of members appointed by Democrats and Republicans, is necessary to establish the truth about Jan. 6 in a nonpartisan atmosphere. The commission shouldn’t be stonewalled because Democrats might derive some political advantage from what such a probe could reveal about Republican complicity in Trump’s refusal to accept his defeat.

McConnell has at times signaled that he is more responsible than McCarthy. McConnell on Jan. 6 did not join in GOP objections to President Biden’s electors from Pennsylvania and Arizona, having previously congratulated Biden on his victory. McCarthy did object — claiming unconvincingly that the debate and votes “were not about overturning an election.”

But the similarities in the two leaders’ behavior are more striking than the differences. Both McConnell and McCarthy criticized Trump’s role in the Jan. 6 riot, only to revert to solidarity with the former president when it counted.

McCarthy arguably is the more obsequious of the two. (He recently praised Trump for his ability to go without sleep.) But when it matters, both leaders have put partisan advantage above the national interest.