US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi speaks during news conference with House impeachment managers, in Washington, on February 13, 2021.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said that Congress will establish an independent, September 11-style commission to look into the deadly insurrection that took place at the US Capitol.
Pelosi said on Monday the commission will "investigate and report on the facts and causes relating to January 6, 2021, domestic terrorist attack upon the United States Capitol Complex … and relating to the interference with the peaceful transfer of power."
In a letter to Democratic colleagues, Pelosi said the House will also put forth supplemental spending to boost security at the Capitol.
After former president Donald Trump's acquittal at his second Senate impeachment trial, bipartisan support appeared to be growing for an independent commission to examine the deadly insurrection.
READ MORE: US Senate acquits former president Trump of inciting Capitol attack
Investigations into the riot were already planned, with Senate hearings scheduled later this month in the Senate Rules Committee.
Pelosi asked retired Army Lieutenant General Russel Honore to lead an immediate review of the Capitol’s security process.
In her letter Monday, Pelosi said, "It is clear from his findings and from the impeachment trial that we must get to the truth of how this happened."
She added, "As we prepare for the Commission, it is also clear from General Honore’s interim reporting that we must put forth a supplemental appropriation to provide for the safety of Members and the security of the Capitol."
Lawmakers from both parties, speaking on Sunday's news shows, signalled that even more inquiries were likely.
The Senate verdict Saturday, with its 57-43 majority falling 10 votes short of the two-thirds needed to convict Trump, hardly put to rest the debate about the Republican former president’s culpability for the January 6 assault.
"There should be a complete investigation about what happened," said Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy, one of seven Republicans who voted to convict Trump. "What was known, who knew it and when they knew, all that, because that builds the basis so this never happens again."
Cassidy said he was "attempting to hold President Trump accountable," and added that as Americans hear all the facts, "more folks will move to where I was."
He was censured by his state's party after the vote.
READ MORE: Disturbing Capitol attack footage dominates Trump impeachment trial
Law on independent commission?
An independent commission along the lines of the one that investigated the September 11 attacks would probably require legislation to create.
That would elevate the investigation a step higher, offering a definitive government-backed accounting of events.
Still, such a panel would pose risks of sharpening partisan divisions or overshadowing President Joe Biden's legislative agenda.
"There's still more evidence that the American people need and deserve to hear and a 9/11 commission is a way to make sure that we secure the Capitol going forward," said Senator Chris Coons, a Biden ally.
"And that we lay bare the record of just how responsible and how abjectly violating of his constitutional oath president Trump really was."
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