Kentucky senator Rand Paul held the Senate floor for ten and a half hours Wednesday in what he called a filibuster in an attempt to force the Senate to conduct debate on amendments to reform the NSA.
Paul was joined by 10 other senators. Three Republicans, including Ted Cruz of Texas, and seven Democrats.
By finishing before midnight, the Kentucky senator didn’t end up disrupting the Senate’s schedule after all. The result means that senators, Hill staffers and reporters may actually get a three day weekend.
However, Paul’s “filibuster” does make clear that any attempt by the GOP to pass a clean reauthorization of the Patriot Act is likely to fail.
Rand Paul says “my voice is rapidly leaving and my bedtime is long since passed.” He seems very tired. The question now is whether he can make it past midnight and make this an official filibuster and delay Senate business for the next day. With fifteen minutes left, it seems a very achievable goal.
Ted Cruz also made the first pop culture reference of the evening, citing The Blues Brothers.
The Texas senator referenced past filibusters with both Mike Lee and Rand Paul both participating. However, he may have misquoted the movie and seemingly attributed a line of Jake Blues, played by John Belushi, to Elwood Blues, played by Dan Aykroyd.
Either way, Cruz was excited to “get the band back together again.”
Ted Cruz is taking care to support Rand Paul’s push for amendments right now while still differentiating himself.
The Texas senator has talked extensively so far about the threat posed by terrorism. Cruz, who is also making a play for libertarian leaning voters who supported Ron Paul but are still skeptical of Rand, also went out of his way to praise Ron Paul at the beginning of his remarks.
He is the third Republican to participate and the first 2016 presidential candidate to speak today. The Texas senator is delivering a very gracious tribute both to Rand Paul as well as to Rand’s father, former congressman Ron Paul.
Cruz has been a co-sponsor of the USA Freedom Act and voted for it in 2014 when the Senate last considered NSA reform.
Although Ted Cruz had been presiding over the Senate, he’s now been replaced by fellow 2016 candidate Marco Rubio. Is this a sign that Cruz, after repeated trolling by Paul’s superPAC online, might participate?
10 hours of Rand Paul talking. And now, Marco Rubio is presiding over the Senate. http://t.co/JgyqvsQFo1
Rand Paul is speaking again after Mike Lee’s half-hour long “question.”
However, the Kentucky Republican looks to be in far less robust shape than he has been in the past. Paul’s voice is getting hoarse and he’s holding on to both a chair and his desk for support as he speaks.
Despite the fact that the Kentucky senator hasn’t spoken for over a half-hour, his filibuster has now gone on for ten hours.
While Paul has continued to stay on the floor of the Senate, Utah Republican Mike Lee has delivered an extended speech on the Fourth Amendment and a Supreme Court case called Smith v. Maryland for the past 30 minutes.
Lee is one of two Republicans to participate in the filibuster and join Paul on the floor. The only other so far has been freshman Montana senator Steve Daines.
Mike Lee is now suggesting that Smith v. Maryland, one of the most important Fourth Amendment cases on the books might not have been decided correctly.
However, he says even if it was decided correctly, it isn’t applicable precedent to section 215 of the Patriot Act. He said comparing the case, which said that police could use a pen register installed at central telephone exchange to monitor all the numbers dialed from a specific line to Section 215, was like comparing a pony ride to a trip to the Moon and back.
Mike Lee’s question for Rand Paul so far has gone on for 20 minutes and shows no sign of stopping.
During Ted Cruz’s extended quasi-filibuster in 2013, Lee asked a “question,” which lasted for roughly 50 minutes in an attempt to spell the Texas senator.
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