For the remainder of Tuesday night and for most of Wednesday, Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren is prohibited from debating on the floor of the Senate. That’s because her Senate colleagues found her guilty of impugning another senator, Jeff Sessions, whose nomination for attorney general is being considered.
With a 52 seat Senate majority and control of the White House, Republicans are now able to confirm Trump cabinet nominees with a 50 vote majority and Democrats are furious. And while Democrats can’t stop nominees unless Republicans defect, they’re resorting to the time-honored Senate tactic of parliamentary delay.
Tuesday night, after Vice President Pence cast a tiebreaking vote on (now) Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, Democrats again delivered on their promise to use the 30 required hours of debate on the nomination of Sessions as a toothless quasi-filibuster. Majority Leader McConnell, perhaps sick of the delays and eager to play hard ball, opted to “run the clock” straight through the night, forcing Democrats to make their arguments against Sessions (like with DeVos) all night long.
Senator Warren, a fierce critic of Sessions, was warned for potentially violating the Senate’s Rule 19, which reads (in part): “No Senator in debate shall, directly or indirectly, by any form of words impute to another Senator or to other Senators any conduct or motive unworthy or unbecoming a Senator.”
Warren was warned by the presiding officer, Senator Daines, for quoting remarks made by the late Senator Ted Kennedy during Senate consideration of Sessions for the federal bench in 1986.
Later in her speech, Warren again flirted with violating Rule 19 by quoting a letter used to scuttle Sessions’s 1986 nomination by Coretta Scott King. Majority Leader McConnell then invoked Rule 19:
Effectively, a violation of Rule 19 means a Senator is prohibited from speaking for the rest of the debate.
Section 4 of Rule 19 reads, in part: “when a Senator shall be called to order he shall take his seat, and may not proceed without leave of the Senate, which, if granted, shall be upon motion that he be allowed to proceed in order…”
You may have often heard Senators begin speeches by saying “I rise today to…”, and that’s because when recognized, they are able to rise from their seat and speak.
Warren appealed the claim by McConnell, which set up a vote requiring a simple majority to override, and it failed, 43 to 49.
Senator Kamala Harris of California pushed a motion that would allow Warren, once again, to speak. It failed, 43 to 50.
A brief debate between the presiding officer and members of both parties ensued about this use of Rule 19 and what it may mean for the future of the Senate, which loves to brag about its collegiality.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer decried the move, saying “we could use Rule 19 virtually every day in the Senate” and that “selective enforcement” of it could lead to a decrease in comity on the Senate floor.
The Senate is expected to vote on Sessions tomorrow Wednesday afternoon. After which, Senator Warren will again be allowed to debate.
Watch the exchanges below:
