Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D.-MA.) was properly reprimanded under Senate when she was told to sit down and stop speaking critically of Attorney General-designate Jeff Sessions, former Senate historian Donald A. Ritchie told Newsmax.
“But the irony of it all,” he added, “is that, through social media, far more people read the letter of Coretta Scott King [slamming Sessions’ civil rights record when he was up for a federal judgeship in 1986] than they would have had Sen. Warren been permitted to speak all night long.”
Warren got that and a lot more. Several news outlets reported that, within 24 hours of her silencing, the Bay State senator's 2018 re-election fund raked in more than $1 million in unsolicited contributions.
With followers hailing her as “the woman who would not be silenced,” Warren began wearing her treatment by colleagues as an Olympic Gold Medal. On Thursday morning, she tweeted that “this is just the beginning” of Democratic opposition to Sessions (whom the full Senate confirmed by a vote of 52-to-47) and that Sessions “would hear from all of us” if he brought what she called “his racism, sexism, and bigotry” to the Justice Department.
Ritchie, who served as historian of the Senate from 2009-2015, noted that “Senate rules are unique. You can attack just about anyone, and you are protected. But only if you attack other senators are you punished.”
That punishment is to be “silenced,” as Warren was on Tuesday following a motion by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
Warren’s punishment, Ritchie explained, was courtesy of Rule 19 of the Senate playbook, written by Thomas Jefferson when he was vice president.
“Jefferson knew that rough language among senators could lead to fistfights,” he said. “And, remember, in the 19th century, people were fighting duels when they felt their honor was attacked.”
Ritchie also noted the reprimand has rarely been used since the 20th century. He cited two examples of senators who were silenced for criticizing colleagues: Robert “Fighting Bob” Lafollette, R-Wis.; and Huey “The Kingfish” Long, D-La.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.