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The U.S. House of Representatives has approved a bill that would establish an independent, bipartisan commission to investigate the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

The House voted 252-175 on the bill, with 35 Republicans breaking with their party to support the legislation. None of those 35 Republicans were among Minnesota's Congressional delegation.

Republican U.S. Reps. Jim Hagedorn (MN-01), Tom Emmer (MN-03), Michelle Fischbach (MN-07) and Pete Stauber (MN-08) all voted against the commission.

All four Minnesota Democrats in Congress Reps. Angie Craig, Betty McCollum, Ilhan Omar, and Dean Phillips voted in favor of the measure.

The commission, which would have an equal number of Democrats and Republicans, is aimed at investigating the insurrection,which involved a mob of people storming into the Capitol while Congress certified the election in favor of President Joe Biden

During the ordeal, numerous protesters violently attacked Capitol police officers (the family of one officer who killed himself after the insurrection is in support of the commission) and it led to the House impeaching President Donald Trump (who was ultimately not convicted in the Senate as the vote fell three short of the 60 senators required).

Phillips, represents Minnesota's 3rd Congressional District, tweeted about the lack of support from some Republicans on Wednesday, saying he "never imagined a single member of Congress would vote against a bipartisan commission to investigate" the bloody incident.

Emmer in a statement, according to the Star Tribune, cited three ongoing congressional committees that are investigating the insurrection and adding another one "does nothing to help the American people move forward or bridge the current political divide in our country."

It doesn't appear the other Republican members of Minnesota's Congressional delegation have released public statements about their decision. That being said, Hagedorn and Fischbach were among the Republicans who objected to certifying Biden's win as Trump, without evidence, claimed the election was stolen. While Stauber and Emmer joined efforts to overturn the election by supporting a lawsuit seeking to overturn results in several key swing states.

Emmer's objections to the bill mirror what other Republicans have said, like that this proposed commission would be counterproductive, citing the other commissions and federal agencies' investigation, Axios explains. Another reason GOPers have said they're against the legislation is because they're concerned the bill would be used to subpoena and alienate members of the party and Trump.

Among the criticisms from Democrats that have emerged in recent days is noting that while in control of Congress, Republicans approved 10 investigations into the Benghazi attack while Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State, which House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has previously admitted was partly motivated by hurting Clinton's election chances.

Others have tried to downplay the violence that occurred on Jan. 6 even after a deal on the scope and focus of the proposed commission had been reached, CNN said. Some Republicans pushed for the commission to also investigate protests and unrest last summer following George Floyd's murder, as well as other incidents.

Minnesota DFL Party Chairman Ken Martin released a statement slamming Republicans for voting against the commission, saying they propped up the "Big Lie" that the election was stolen, which helped inspire the insurrection at the Capitol and now they're blocking efforts to learn the truth behind what happened.

"Republicans are ready to move on in a hypocritical bid to bury their complicity in that storming," Martin said, adding: When Representatives Hagedorn, Emmer, Fischbach, and Stauber were given the opportunity to defend American democracy, they chose to defend Donald Trump, the Republican Party, a violent, lawless mob instead."

After the House's approval, the bill heads to the Senate, where Republican leader Mitch McConnell has voiced his opposition to the bill, calling it a "slanted and unbalanced proposal"and GOP leaders are pushing for other Republicans to vote it down.

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All 4 MN Republicans vote against bipartisan commission into Jan. 6 insurrection - Bring Me The News

Support for Rep. Liz Cheney, seen here on April 20, is crumbling as the second-ranking House Republican is publicly supporting her ousting from GOP leadership. Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images hide caption

Support for Rep. Liz Cheney, seen here on April 20, is crumbling as the second-ranking House Republican is publicly supporting her ousting from GOP leadership.

Steve Scalise, the second-ranking House Republican, is publicly backing Rep. Liz Cheney's removal from GOP leadership, adding to the growing momentum to remove the Wyoming Republican after months of backlash over her continued criticism of former President Trump's efforts to undermine the 2020 election and his role in inciting the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot.

In a statement given to NPR, Scalise calls for New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, a Trump loyalist, to replace Cheney as House Republican Conference Chair.

"House Republicans need to be solely focused on taking back the House in 2022 and fighting against Speaker Pelosi and President Biden's radical socialist agenda, and Elise Stefanik is strongly committed to doing that, which is why Whip Scalise has pledged to support her for Conference Chair," said Scalise's communications director, Lauren Fine.

Trump also endorsed Stefanik. "We want leaders who believe in the Make America Great Again movement, and prioritize the values of America First," Trump said in a statement Wednesday. "Elise Stefanik is a far superior choice, and she has my COMPLETE and TOTAL Endorsement for GOP Conference Chair. Elise is a tough and smart communicator!"

The House is currently on recess and so any official vote to remove Cheney from her leadership role, or elect Stefanik, would happen next week at the earliest.

On Tuesday, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy told Fox & Friends he's had members share concerns with him over Cheney's ability to carry out GOP messaging and pushed back that the fallout against the Wyoming lawmaker stems from her vote to impeach former President Donald Trump.

"I haven't heard members concerned about her vote on impeachment, it's more concerned about the job ability to do and what's our best step forward, that we can all work together instead of attacking one another," he said.

But as Axios reported following the interview, McCarthy put it more bluntly in a moment captured on a hot mic.

"I've had it with her. I've lost confidence," he said.

Tensions between McCarthy and Cheney have been simmering for months, as Cheney refuses to let up on rebuking Trump for undermining the 2020 election and inciting the Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6.

But many Republicans see her fierce criticism of the former president as at odds with her role of carrying out party messaging, especially as leaders like McCarthy and Scalise are actively working with Trump for his campaign support in the next midterm elections.

Scalise previously told Axios that Cheney's views on Trump are out of step with most Republicans.

"This idea that you just disregard President Trump is not where we are, and frankly he has a lot to offer still and has offered a lot. He wants to help us win the House back," he said.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said Wednesday that Cheney's "greatest offense apparently is she is principled and she believes in the truth."

"If you're not 1,000% for Donald Trump, somehow you're not a good Republican, you're not worthy of being in the leadership," Hoyer told The Washington Post's Karen Tumulty on Post Live.

"I think it's a real weakness in the Republican party that they have. jettison their principles, jettison adherence to the truth, and simply pandered to one individual: Donald Trump."

Stefanik, 36, was first elected to the House in 2014. At the time, she was the youngest woman ever elected to Congress. A Harvard graduate who worked in the George W. Bush White House, Stefanik's political alliances have shifted from being closely aligned to the establishment wing of the GOP she was a close political ally and one time adviser to former Speaker Paul Ryan to a vocal Trump loyalist who earned attention and praise from the former president for her role in defending him during his first impeachment trial.

Stefanik has worked for years to recruit and support more Republican women to run for Congress, a constituency in which she now enjoys a strong level of support. She has not faced a serious challenge for her upstate New York House seat since she won in 2014 and as the area has trended towards Republicans.

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No. 2 House Republican Supports Ousting Cheney From GOP Leadership - NPR

EXCLUSIVE: House Republicans are demanding answers from the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) onwhether new school reopening guidelines were based on politics and Democratic campaign donations rather than coronavirus science.

GOP leaders on the House Energy and Commerce Committee are raising alarms over newly released emails that show a flurry ofcommunication between CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky, her top advisors and teachers union officials. The emails revealed thatthe powerful teachers union, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), was making language suggestions for the CDC's latest school reopening guidelines released on Feb. 12.

The emails "raise significant concerns about whether you, as the Director of the CDC, are putting politics over science and Biden-Harris campaign donors over children,"Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., wroteWalensky on Wednesday in a letter obtained first by Fox News.

TOP TEACHERS UNION LOBBIED CDC ON SCHOOL REOPENING

"Such revelations also raise serious questions as to whether you are honoring your pledge to ensure CDC guidance is evidence-based and free from politics."

U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Spokane, who is being challenged by Democrat Lisa Brown, speaks during a debate, Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2018, in Spokane, Wash. McMorris Rodgers is questioning the CDC school reopening guidelines. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren) (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Rodgers is the top Republican on the Energy and Commerce Committee. She was joined in the letter byMorgan Griffith, R-Va., andBrett Guthrie, R-Ky., who also serve on the committee that has oversight over healthcare matters.

The Republicans tell Walensky that theemails"shed new light on your public about-face" on her stance on whether schools can safely reopen without teachers first beingvaccinated.

Walensky initially said in early February that data suggests schools can safely reopen -- even without teachers needing to be vaccinated. But the White House later underminedWalensky's comment and emails revealed that AFT President RandiWeingarten had a phone conversation withWalensky, too.Afterward,Walensky's public statements changed to encouraging states to give teachers priority in vaccinations, the letter states.

"The AFTs priority is not focused on getting kids back to school, despite studies showing, with appropriate measures in place, in-person learning is safe," the lawmakers wrote. "However, as the Director of the CDC, your decisions should be guided by science, not political interest groups."

The members aredemanding answers on the scope of the communication between the CDC andAmerican Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the National Education Association (NEA) and more information on how the powerful teachers unions influenced the union-approved guidelines.

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - MARCH 30: CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky speaks to the press after visiting the Hynes Convention Center FEMA Mass Vaccination Site on March 30, 2021 in Boston, Massachusetts. Dr. Walensky recently said she had a sense of "impending doom" as the rate of coronavirus infection has recently been rising across the U.S. (Photo by Erin Clark-Pool/Getty Images) (Getty Images)

The Republicans also allege"the CDC was not forthcoming"with the Energy and Commerce Committee when members previously asked for names of any stakeholders engaged by the CDC during the preparation of the updated guidance. On March 17, 2021, the CDC sent a response but did not provide information on this item, the letter states.

The emails between the CDC and the teachers unions wereobtained through a Freedom of Information Act request by the conservative watchdog group Americans for Public Trust and provided to The New York Post.

The CDC defended its conversations with the unions asroutine.

COTTON RIPS 'POLITICIZED' CDC GUIDANCE ON SCHOOLS REOPENING: KIDS NEED FULL RETURN TO CLASSROOMS 'NOW'

"As part of long-standing best practices, CDC has traditionally engaged with organizations and groups that are impacted by guidance and recommendations issued by the agency," Jason McDonald, a spokesman for Walensky, told The Post. "We do so to ensure our recommendations are feasible to implement and they adequately address the safety and wellbeing of individuals the guidance is aimed to protect. These informative and helpful interactions often result in beneficial feedback that we consider in our final revisions to ensure clarity and usability."

But Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said the emails between the CDC and the teachers union show politics at play. Teachers unions are major political donors to Democrats, including to President Biden.

"We shouldnt have a politicized public health bureaucracy like the CDC answering at the beck and call of the teachers' unions," Cotton told Fox News earlier this week.

The White House Tuesday defended the CDC conversations with the unions when pressed by Fox News and rejected the notion thatthe health agency is politicized.

Randi Weingarten, president of American Federation of Teachers, speaks, along with Everett Kelley, left, National President of the American Federation of Government Employees, during the "Commitment March: Get Your Knee Off Our Necks" protest against racism and police brutality, on August 28, 2020, in Washington, DC.Weingarten has been in touch with the CDC about school reopening guidelines, emails show.

(Photo by Jacquelyn Martin / POOL / AFP) (Photo by JACQUELYN MARTIN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

"Its actually a longstanding best practice for the CDC to engage with organizations and groups that are going to be impacted by guidance and recommendations issued by the agency," White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday.

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Psaki said the CDC "engaged with around 50 stakeholders" total in advance of the guidance -- not just the unions.

"It doesnt mean they are taking everything they want or even a percentage of what they want," Psaki said. "...They do so to ensure that recommendations are feasible and that they adequately address the safety and wellbeing of the individuals the guidance is aimed toprotect."

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House Republicans demand answers from CDC on seemingly cozy relationship with teachers unions - Fox News

Along with Florida, Republicans are expected to draw themselves more favorable congressional districts in Georgia, where Democrats hold two competitive districts in Atlantas northern suburbs, and Texas, which will add two new seats for the 2022 elections.

Mr. Ryans Democratic district in northeast Ohio is likely to disappear when Ohio Republicans draw a map with one fewer House seat, and Representative Filemon Vela of Texas, whose Rio Grande Valley district became eight percentage points more Republican from 2016 to 2020, chose retirement rather than compete in what was likely to be his first competitive re-election bid.

This is where Democratic underperformance in 2020 really begins to hinder Democrats downballot, said Ken Spain, a veteran of the House Republicans campaign arm. Republicans fared well at the state level last cycle and now theyre going to reap the benefits of many of those red states drawing a disproportionate number of the seats.

Because Republicans hold majorities in more state legislatures, and Democrats and voters in key states such as California, Colorado and Virginia have delegated mapmaking authority to nonpartisan commissions, the redistricting process alone could shift up to five or six seats to Republicans, potentially enough to seize the majority if they don't flip any other Democratic-held seats.

Democrats are expected to press their advantages where they can, particularly in Illinois and New York, states that lost one House district each in last weeks reapportionment. New Yorks new map is certain to take a seat from Republicans in Upstate New York, and one Republican-held seat in Central Illinois may be redrawn to be Democratic while another is eliminated.

For the moment there are more House Republicans, six, not seeking re-election, than the five House Democrats retiring or running for aiming for a promotion to statewide office. But of the Republicans, only Representatives Lee Zeldin and Tom Reed of New York represent districts that are plausibly competitive in 2022.

With Democrats holding supermajority control of the New York State Legislature, Mr. Zeldin, who is running for governor, and Mr. Reed, who retired while apologizing for a past allegation of groping, could both see their districts drawn to become far more competitive for Democrats.

Reid J. Epstein reported from Washington and Patricia Mazzei reported from Miami.

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Why Democratic Departures From the House Have Republicans Salivating - The New York Times

Since Joe Biden became president, several surveys have found a sharp rise in Republican pessimism about the economy.

This might seem surprising considering the national economy which experienced one of its worst downturns thanks to the coronavirus pandemic is now objectively improving. The United States added 916,000 jobs in March, smashing Dow Jones expectations and the unemployment rate is now at its lowest level (6 percent) in over a year. And economic forecasters now predict annual GDP growth in 2021 will soar to levels the country hasnt witnessed in nearly 40 years.

Yet, despite these optimistic economic indicators, most Republicans say the economy is getting worse. On the one hand, this is to be expected, as political scientists have found that how we think about the economy is increasingly rooted in how we identify politically rather than in actual economic conditions.

Take this data from Civiqs daily tracking polls, which has asked Americans about the economy each day since June 2016. Americans perceptions of the national economy have changed wildly depending on whether a Democrat or a Republican is in the White House.

These shifts are particularly striking for Republicans when considering the actual state of the economy. Even after a prolonged period of growth in GDP, household income, employment and the stock market during Barack Obamas presidency, about 70 percent of Republicans consistently thought the economy was getting worse in 2016 nearly the same share who are now pessimistic about the economys trajectory under Biden. (By contrast, fewer than half of Republicans said the economy was getting worse at the height of the coronavirus recession, when the U.S. economy was in its worst shape since the Great Depression.)

And this disconnect underscores a key point that political scientists John Sides, Lynn Vavreck, and I have repeatedly made about the 2016 election: Despite a media narrative that attributed Trumps political rise to widespread economic dissatisfaction and anxiety, it was partisan and race-based opposition to Obamas presidency that drove public opinion about the economy.

Thats confirmed by several studies showing economic distress was a weak predictor of support for Trump in the 2016 general election and understanding who switched from supporting Obama in 2012 to voting for Trump in 2016. To the extent that economic anxiety mattered in Trumps rise, it tended to take the form of what we have called racialized economics or the belief that undeserving minority groups are getting ahead while hardworking white people are being left behind. This attitude more than economic discontent pushed voters toward Trump, too.

But this didnt stop the media from explaining away Trumps support with stories about his voters apparent economic grievances. As The Washington Post reported, use of the phrase economic anxiety in American news coverage peaked in November 2016 even prominent Democrats such as Sen. Bernie Sanders and Biden put forth economic reasons to explain Trumps victory. This focus on the ostensible economic underpinnings of Trumps election was so widespread, in fact, that cable news actually devoted far more coverage to economic anxiety during the 2016 presidential campaign than they did during the 2020 election, when there was actually a global downturn in the economy.

The economic anxiety explanation for Trumpism has been persistent, too. So much so that when political scientist Robert Pape began exploring the factors contributing to the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, he expected to find that rioters were driven to violence by the lingering effects of the 2008 recession. [I]nstead, The New York Times reported, he found something very different: Most of the people who took part in the assault came from places that were awash in fears that the rights of minorities and immigrants were crowding out the rights of white people in American politics and culture.

While Papes statistical methods have been criticized, and his findings appear obvious to many, his expectation that Trumps strongest supporters were still somehow motivated by the 2008 recession in 2021 underscores just how difficult it has been to dislodge unsubstantiated economic explanations for Trumpism. And with Republicans renewed economic anxiety likely here to stay throughout Bidens time in the White House, it also raises an important question: Will we, as a nation, fall for the same trick once again?

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Republicans Pessimistic Views On The Economy Have Little To Do With The Economy - FiveThirtyEight