Warren violates arcane rule, sparking Senate dustup
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., questions then Education Secretary-nominee Betsy DeVos on Capitol Hill on Jan. 17.
WASHINGTON >> Sen. Elizabeth Warren has earned a rare rebuke by the Senate for quoting Coretta Scott King on the Senate floor.
The Massachusetts Democrat ran afoul of the chamber’s arcane rules by reading a three-decade-old letter from Dr. Martin Luther King’s widow that dated to Sen. Jeff Sessions’ failed judicial nomination three decades ago.
The chamber is debating the Alabama Republican’s nomination for attorney general, with Democrats dropping senatorial niceties to oppose Sessions and Republicans sticking up for him.
King wrote that when acting as a federal prosecutor, Sessions used his power to “chill the free exercise of the vote by black citizens.”
Quoting King technically put Warren in violation of Senate rules for “impugning the motives” of Sessions, though senators have said far worse stuff. And Warren was reading from a letter that was written 10 years before Sessions was even elected to the Senate.
Still, top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell invoked the rules. After a few parliamentary moves, the GOP-controlled Senate voted to back him up.
Don't miss out on what's happening!
Stay in touch with top news, as it happens, conveniently in your email inbox. It's FREE!
Now, Warren is forbidden from speaking again on Sessions’ nomination. A vote on Sessions is expected Wednesday evening.
Democrats seized on the flap to charge that Republicans were muzzling Warren, sparking liberals to take to Twitter to post the King letter in its entirety.
Warren argued: “I’m reading a letter from Coretta Scott King to the Judiciary Committee from 1986 that was admitted into the record. I’m simply reading what she wrote about what the nomination of Jeff Sessions to be a federal court judge meant and what it would mean in history for her.”
Warren was originally warned after reading from a statement by former Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., that labeled Sessions a disgrace.
Democrats pointed out that McConnell didn’t object when Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, called him a liar in a 2015 dustup.
The episode was followed by lamentations by Senate veterans, including its most senior Republican, Orrin Hatch of Utah, about how the Senate is too partisan.
16 responses to “Warren violates arcane rule, sparking Senate dustup”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Spineless republicans grasping at straws.
Rules don’t apply to the democrats
It is amazing what government officials are saying about our President Trump. This has never been acceptable for any President before him. What a shame, people still don’t understand that more than half of the public voted for Trump.
Less than half voted for the fool. He loss the popular vote.
You’re entitled to your opinion but not to your own facts. 54% voted against Trump, or, to put it another way, Trump lost to not-Trump by 8%.
From a more pragmatic perspective, 27% voted Hillary, 26% went for Trump. Almost half of this nation’s voters didn’t care enough to even show up.
No one can claim “winning” anything, other than successfully inciting apathy…
Agreed!!!! Small fractions of America on both ends trying to claim their stake to the throne…America has spoken, Majority said you BOTH stink…#MAGA
About time someone put a muzzle on Pocahontas.
Agree; Warren is an extremist.
Warren is ignorantly a clue less tool of far left interest groups, what kind of electorate put her in office? Oh wait we put Hirono in the senate didn’t we? But she is different right? Yikes!
And the trump people that voted for him are uneducated his words.
Lock her up.
Auntie, Shut yo maaufff!!!!
Senate Republicans celebrate Black History Month by suppressing the words of Coretta Scott King.
Senate Republicans are in charge. What a relief. Another enjoyable day ahead.
The irony of the situation is that you are trying to vette this Senator for the AG spot but you can’t say anything bad about him because of senate rule 19.