The end of a beautiful friendship?

Republicans received some friendly fire today from an unusual source. As the Senate prepared to vote on a bill that would establish a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, Sen. Joe Manchin, one of the most moderate Democrats in the entire conference, blasted Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell for playing politics over the legislation.

• — "There is no excuse for any Republican to vote against the commission since Democrats have agreed to everything they asked for," Manchin said. "Mitch McConnell has made this his political position, thinking it will help his 2022 elections. They do not believe the truth will set you free, so they continue to live in fear."
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• — McConnell disagrees. He has criticized the House proposal as "slanted and unbalanced," leading other Senate Republicans to oppose it as well. Only two Republican senators—Lisa Murkowski and Mitt Romney—have publicly committed to supporting the bill. Ten Republicans would need to vote for it to overcome the filibuster.
   
• — "I do not believe the additional, extraneous commission that Democratic leaders want would uncover crucial new facts, or promote healing," McConnell said today. "Frankly, I do not believe it is even designed to do that." Okay, Mitch. —The Hill

Tumulty: When will GOP go green on Greene?

"Republicans must do more than simply denounce [Rep. Marjorie Taylor] Greene. It is time for them to, at a minimum, rally behind censuring her. A resolution to do so is being drafted by Rep. Bradley Schneider. Republicans should also kick her out of their caucus, as Rep. Adam Kinzinger has proposed. Anything less makes hollow Republican leaders' efforts to portray Greene as merely a fringe player among their ranks. They created her, and they continue to elevate her. This is the consequence of seeking power without regard to what else it may bring." —Karen Tumulty in The Washington Post

Karen Tumulty is a Washington Post columnist covering national politics.

MORE: Republicans under pressure after Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's comments —NBC News

Biden riles China

Amid renewed concerns that the COVID-19 virus may have leaked from a laboratory in Wuhan, China, President Biden said yesterday that he has ordered U.S. intelligence agencies to redouble efforts to determine the exact cause of the pandemic. Biden said intelligence has coalesced around two likely scenarios, but hasn't reached a definitive conclusion. A report is due within 90 days. Biden also said the U.S. would work with allies "to press China to participate in a full, transparent, evidence-based international investigation and to provide access to all relevant data and evidence." China, not surprisingly, is displeased, accusing the U.S. of playing politics. —MarketWatch

MORE: Senate approves amendment blocking funds to Wuhan Institute of Virology —Newsweek

China bill hits a speed bump

It was one of the least exciting days on C-SPAN in a while, as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer rolled the dice on one of his top legislative priorities: combating China's competitiveness. Efforts to counter China typically garner widespread support in Congress, but last-minute drama is preventing swift passage of the Innovation and Competition Act. Democrats sought signoff on a deal struck between Sen. Mike Crapo and Schumer on an amendment that would extend trade preferences and tariff relief. That led several senators to withhold their vote until the agreement was sealed. If Republicans ultimately torpedo the bill, it could mark the first successful filibuster of the 117th Congress. —The Hill

MORE: Senate tests willingness to preserve filibuster with China, Jan. 6 commission votes —NBC News

Applebaum: Belarus' dangerous precedent

"In autocratic capitals all over the world, dictators and their flunkies are watching to see how the West reacts—whether [Belarusian President Alexander] Lukashenko gets away with it and whether, perhaps, this new tool of oppression will become available to them too. Invariably, others will seek to use it, if only because it sends a message to their dissident and exile communities: You are not safe. You are never safe. Not even if you live in a democracy; not even if you have political asylum; not even if you are sitting on a commercial plane, thousands of feet above the ground." —Anne Applebaum in The Atlantic

Anne Applebaum is a senior fellow of the Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University and the author of "Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism."

MORE: Belarus journalist Roman Protasevich's colleagues fear for their lives —BBC News

Focus on gun violence

For years, Congress has failed to pass a firearms background check bill that might help curb the nation's gun violence crisis. Now, two senators think they have a path to agreement. Sens. Chris Murphy and John Cornyn, Democrat and Republican respectively, have been quietly negotiating a way to bolster background check rules by making a small but consequential tweak to current law.

• — House-passed legislation to require background checks on nearly all gun purchases has stalled in the Senate. But Murphy and Cornyn believe their solution can attract broad support from both parties by closing an unintended loophole in the system that has led to preventable mass shootings.
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• — Specifically, they want to clarify who is required to register as a federal firearms licensee, or FFL, and thus conduct FBI checks on a buyer before selling a gun. The senators say an ambiguity in the law has enabled unlicensed sellers to transfer weapons to dangerous people who skirt the background check system.
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• — "What we're trying to protect, or carve out, are the hobbyist and or casual transactions between friends and family members, but capture the people who literally are making a living and making a profit selling firearms, and give that to the U.S. attorneys to prosecute," Cornyn says. —NBC News

Foley: Realistic electoral reform is possible

"District maps soon must be drawn. Partisan primaries must be held under existing rules if Congress fails to enact a majority-winner provision that would require states to rethink the relationship of primaries and the general election. Senate Democrats are at risk of blowing their chance at meaningful electoral reform. ... [T]hey should compromise with 10 reasonable Republicans on a set of simple measures to ensure that congressional elections genuinely implement voter preferences." —Edward Foley in The Washington Post

Edward Foley writes on matters relating to election law and administration. He holds the Ebersold Chair in Constitutional Law at Ohio State University, where he heads the university's election law program.

MORE: Gregory E. Deavens, Susan Jacobson & David Thornburgh: Corporate America must stand up for voting rights —The Philadelphia Inquirer

I disagree with Steven R. about presidential impeachment. The House only needs a one-vote margin to impeach. That nearly guarantees that the Republican Party at least, and quite likely the Democratic Party too, might vote for articles of impeachment against any first-term president. That would effectively limit a president to one term, any time that the House is controlled by the opposition party. Our founding fathers thought long and hard before writing our Constitution. We should emulate them if we seek to amend it. —Bill M., Pennsylvania

I have read that some geniuses in the sedition party—what used to be the GOP—have been blaming the "left" for attacks on Jews. Probably true of some. Yet I'd venture a guess that there are not many "lefties" (which I am not) in the neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups (of which I am definitely not), like those chanting on video things like "Jews will not replace us" just a few years ago during a march in Charlottesville. Jews (which I am not), like veterans (which I am), have unfortunately been the pawns—and much worse—of politicians and other groups in the U.S. for decades. —Bill T., Arizona

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