“So you’re telling us to shut up? You want us to shut up?”
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Rules for thee but not for me.
A Senate Judiciary Committee hearing devolved into chaos on Thursday after Chairman Dick Durbin (D., Ill.) violated longstanding Senate protocol by refusing to allow committee Republicans to speak on a pair of judicial nominations, sidelining the minority in an effort to fast track a vote to subpoena GOP donor Harlan Crow and conservative activist Leonard Leo in connection with their ties to Supreme Court justices.
The vote occurred just minutes shy of the committee’s two-hour hearing deadline. Aware the deadline was approaching, Durbin refused to allow Republicans to weigh in on two judicial nominations, arguing that they had had a chance to debate the nominations in previous sessions, a claim which Republicans pointed out was faulty given that not all members were present for those earlier debates.
“Are we going to have any opportunity to speak on the nominees?” Senator John Cornyn (R., Texas) asked. Durbin responded, “We’ve already done that at great length.” Several other Republicans jumped in to oppose the roll-call vote as Durbin proceeded, while Senator Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) shouted, “Come on, man!”
“You’re going to have a lot of consequences coming if you go down this road,” Senator Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) said during the vote. “Listen to me, I’ve cautioned a lot of you.”
“So you’re telling us to shut up? You want us to shut up?” Senator Marsha Blackburn (R., Tenn.) asked. “That’s what you’re saying.” After Blackburn’s comments were ignored, Cotton retorted, “I guess Senator Durbin is not going to let women speak either. I thought that was sacrosanct in your party.”
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For all the bluster of "broken norms" and "courtesies" we heard for 4 years, you see this.
And Tom Cotton's words will prove to be prescient.
“You’re going to have a lot of consequences coming if you go down this road,” Senator Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) said during the vote. “Listen to me, I’ve cautioned a lot of you.”
Harry Reid
smiledwept.
