President-elect Donald Trump won’t have to walk beneath a plaque honoring Jan. 6 heroes when he takes the oath of office on the west front of the Capitol Monday.
That’s because more than four years after the Capitol riot, a new dispute is emerging over a plaque to honor the heroes and victims of the assault. A 2022 law passed by Congress, and signed by President Biden, required a plaque to be placed on the west front of the Capitol complex by March 2023. Republican House leaders, all of whom are closely aligned with Trump, have yet to erect the plaque, nor have they offered any timetable to do so.
In a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday, a group of nearly 60 House Democrats wrote, “As Members of Congress, we owe a debt of gratitude to these brave officers who defended the Capitol and allowed us to get to safety. We request an update from you regarding your timeline for following the law and placing this plaque.”
Among the House Democrats pressing for the plaque is Rep. Jason Crow, a Democrat from Colorado who was among those trapped in the upper level of the House Chamber as rioters laid siege to the Capitol. Crow and colleagues wrote to Johnson, “Every day Congress fails to live up to our promised actions, we do a disservice to our men and women in uniform who help protect members of Congress, congressional staff, our constituents, and the American people.”
Other Democrats who have signed the letter to Johnson include former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, some members of the House Jan. 6 select committee and other Democrats who were trapped in close proximity to the violent mob.
Johnson’s office did not respond to CBS News’ requests for comment or updates about the plaque or its timetable. He also declined to answer questions last week about the status of the project.
The letter from House Democrats said a House administrator had testified that the “plaque was complete,” and said its placement “continues to await action from Speaker Johnson.”
More than 140 police officers were injured during the Capitol attack. Several others died by suicide in the days after the riot.
Several Democrats and staffers who were at the Capitol on Jan. 6 have accused Republicans of bowing to Trump by downplaying or ignoring the violence of the siege. Former Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn, who unsuccessfully ran for a U.S. House seat in Maryland as a Democrat last year, told CBS News, “Speaker Johnson has not and cannot provide any reason.”
“At this point he is doing nothing but obstructing,” Dunn said.
Democrats have been pressing House leaders about the plaque delay for months without success. In May, Rep. Zoe Lofgren, a California Democrat who was on the House Jan. 6 select committee investigating the assault, wrote to Johnson for answers about the “failure to install the plaque.”
Lofgren told CBS News, “I sent Speaker Johnson a polite letter inquiring about the delay last May, and he never answered. My office followed up, and we were first referred to a vague press answer. Then, crickets”
Rep. Joe Morelle, a New York Democrat who is the ranking member of the Committee on House Administration, told CBS News, “The plaque should be installed as required by law. Refusing to display the Jan. 6 plaque is part of the denialism that Republicans have made a central part of their being: deny Jan. 6 happened and the harm it caused to the U.S. Capitol Police force and our American democracy.”
