"Thou shalt not speak ill of another Senator, lest you melt the special snowflake." - Rule 19, U.S. Senate
As Democrats hold the Senate floor for another all-night marathon filibuster, this time against Jefferson Beauregard Snowflake Sessions III, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell shut down Senator Elizabeth Warren for speaking ill of her colleague.
It would appear that the issue arose over Senator Warren's reading of Coretta Scott King's letter 30 years ago urging that Sessions not be confirmed as a federal judge because of his crusade against voting rights for people of color.
“The senator has impugned the motives and conduct of our colleague from Alabama,” McConnell mewled. “I call the senator to order under the provisions of Rule 19.”
Senator Daines was presiding at the time, and he warned her before McConnell took to the floor. Senators are due to vote on whether she violated the rule momentarily.
All of the objections they have appear to be around letters and utterances of others, whom Warren was quoting. In any other situation, this would not be a problem. But because Sessions is a Senator, there is a Rule which says "thou shalt not say bad things about one's colleagues."
At least, not while the Senate is in session.
Warren isn't being quiet about this. She just tweeted.
I'm sure there will be a vote that will fall right down party lines, because that's how Republicans roll. If she is found to be in violation, she will not be allowed to continue or finish her speech.
Update: The vote was 49-43 to shut her down. Now Mitch McConnell is speaking of her like she's a 5-year old. Senator Kamala Harris just asked for a vote on allowing her to proceed, and that is underway now.
Update 2: The Harris motion was defeated, 50-43
Update 3: Senator Jeff Merkley just read the Coretta Scott King letter on the Senate floor, carefully skirting the mention of Sessions, then Sen. Whitehouse got him to say that the letter was written in 1986 in opposition to Sessions Federal Court nomination.
Meanwhile, this happened:
