Free Republic

Last week, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., was vaulted to high status among feminists.What did she do? Did she lay down in the street to protect the voting rights of women? Did she take a stand against sex trafficking and female exploitation?No. She knowingly and flagrantly broke a long-standing rule of the Senate. And for this, the left made her a hero.The rule that Warren broke was Section 2 of Rule 19, a century-old prohibition on senators from attributing conduct or motives “unworthy or unbecoming” to another senator.If applied, it requires the offending senator to “take his (or her) seat,” meaning...

First of all, despite the martyr act, no one has the power to “silence” Sen. Elizabeth Warren — and that’s a good thing. On the other hand, the impulse to silence Warren is completely rational, and it has nothing to do with her gender, ancestry, or ideology. It has everything to do with her sanctimonious lecturing, habitual dishonesty, and disregard of “norms.” She’s been a bully her entire career.But when Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell pulled Rule 19, which prohibits all members from taking to the floor and “directly or indirectly, by any form of words impute to another Senator or to...

Shall the Senator be allowed to proceed?

ollowing a scathing speech against Trump's nominee for Attorney General, Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell said Senator Elizabeth Warren had "impugned the motives and conduct of our colleague from Alabama," violating the so-called 'Rule 19'. By a vote of 49-43, Senator Warren was then barred from speaking on the floor until Senator Sessions nomination debate is complete (likely tomorrow evening).... McConnell defended the decision, noting Warren had been warned. "Sen. Warren was giving a lengthy speech. She had appeared to violate the rule. She was warned. She was given an explanation," he said after the vote. "Nevertheless, she persisted."

Fortunately, invoking the nuclear option isn’t the only way a Senate majority can confirm a Supreme Court justice in the face of minority obstruction. In a recent Heritage Foundation paper, Ed Corrigan and I detail how Senate rules empower a majority to overcome a filibuster of a Supreme Court nominee — without having to invoke cloture or using the nuclear option. Specifically, a majority may use Rule XIX (the two-speech rule) to shorten the amount of time members are able to filibuster. This rule prohibits any senator from giving more than two speeches on any one question during the same...