Rule 19 of the Senate

     Senator Elizabeth Warren was presenting her evidence as to why Trump's nominee for attorney general, Senator Jeff Sessions, is unfit for her confirmation. Warren's evidence was a letter from Coretta Scott King, saying that Jeff Sessions used his power in office to disenfranchise elderly African Americans.  Before Elizabeth Warren could finish, she was shut down by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in violation of Rule 19 in the senate which states that a senator cannot impute upon another senators character, whether directly or indirectly.

This makes absolutely no sense. How can you hold a confirmation hearing if anything you say is in violation of Rule 19? This was obviously a method of Mitch McConnell to utilize a small senate Rule to breeze right into a confirmation of Jeff sessions. 

     This created a serious platform for Elizabeth Warren to stand on. Elizabeth Warren may now be forbidden to speak on the floor, but she has taken to twitter to show her supporters she's far from silenced. 

     Mitch McConnell stands by his decision to use this rule, saying that she was warned but "Nevertheless, she persisted." Well this only gave her supporters more ammunition. Creating the hashtag #ShePersisted. Jeff sessions was later confirmed, but at a cost for republicans. 

 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2017/02/07/politics/elizabeth-warren-silenced/index.html?client=safari