House at war over Jan. 6 inquiry, mask mandate
| House Republicans and Democrats are at each other’s throats over two explosive issues — the Capitol insurrection and a new mask mandate — that have collided this week in a perfect storm of partisan hostility.
The tensions have simmered with fluctuating ferocity since the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, but they’re spilling over now — just days before the long August recess — with the arrival of the special investigation into the Capitol siege, which launched Tuesday, and the spike in coronavirus cases, which prompted new health restrictions for the lower chamber. The common thread running through both debates is former President Trump, who encouraged his supporters to march on the Capitol on Jan. 6, leading to the deadly rampage that day, and warned throughout the pandemic against stringent public health guidelines that he said infringed on individual rights. |
