In this May 12, 2021, file photo, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., listens as Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, on the monitor behind him, asks questions during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. Senators labored Tuesday to find a path forward for legislation creating a commission on the Jan. 6 insurrection, debating potential changes in a long-shot attempt to overcome growing GOP opposition. Collins and Manchin are leading the informal talks, according to two people familiar with the effort.

WASHINGTON — Senators labored Tuesday to find a path forward for legislation creating a commission on the Jan. 6 insurrection, debating potential changes in a long-shot attempt to overcome growing GOP opposition.

Republican Sen. Susan Collins and Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin are leading the informal talks, according to two people familiar with the effort. The talks are, for now, focused on two issues that Republican senators have cited for their opposition to the House-passed legislation to create the commission — ensuring that the panel's staff is evenly split between the parties and making sure the commission's work does not spill over into the midterm election year.

Collins and Manchin have traded potential changes to the bill and have consulted with other senators as part of the effort, according to the two people and another person with knowledge of the negotiations. The three people spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private talks.

The House bill already attempts to address those two issues, requiring the Democratic-appointed chair to consult with Republicans when hiring staff, and setting an end date of Dec. 31, 2021, for the commission to issue its findings. And the commissioners would be evenly split between the parties, with five Democrats and five Republicans.