Washington, May 29 (IANS): US Senate Republicans have blocked a legislation to establish an independent commission to investigate the violent January 6 Capitol riot that claimed the lives of five people.

The senators on Friday voted 54-35 on the House-passed bill, falling short of 60 votes needed to get it over an initial hurdle, reports Xinhua news agency.

Six Republican Senators joined the Democrats voting to advance the legislation.

"I do not believe the extraneous 'commission' that Democratic leaders want would uncover crucial new facts or promote healing. Frankly, I do not believe it is even designed to," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said on the floor.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Republican lawmakers voted against advancing the January 6 commission bill "out of fear or fealty to (former President) Donald Trump".

"Senate Republicans for months publicly supported the idea of a commission. But now all of a sudden, the Senate minority and the Senate minority leader waged a partisan filibuster against the bill.

"This vote has made it official: Donald Trump's big lie has now fully enveloped the Republican party. Trump's big lie is now the defining principle of what was once the party of Lincoln," Schumer said.

Senate Republicans were widely expected to block the bill since they believed the commission would damage their chances during the 2022 mid-term elections, according to local analysts.

Earlier this month, the Democrat-led House of Representatives voted mostly along party lines to pass the legislation creating the commission modelled after the 9/11 Commission to probe the Capitol riot.

The 10-member commission is tasked with delivering a final report on its findings about what happened on January 6, when a mob of Trump's supporters breached the Capitol to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden's election victory.

The report is also expected to offer recommendations for preventing similar insurrections from happening again.