To mark the fifth anniversary of the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro found a subtle yet powerful entry point: a commemorative plaque honoring law enforcement officers that, though approved by Congress, remained conspicuously absent from Capitol walls.
Instead, lawmakers displayed posterboard replicas — a visual cue that something meant to unite was still unresolved. Speaker Mike Johnson had declined to install the real plaque.
Mascaro used that detail to examine how the legacy of Jan. 6 is being shaped — or avoided — in the nation’s halls of power. Drawing on lawmakers and historians, her reporting connected the symbol to a broader, ongoing debate about how the country remembers that day.
Three days after the story published, the Senate passed a resolution to hang the plaque.
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