Rand Paul Filibusters John Brennan’s CIA Nomination

Telling his colleagues he would “speak until I can no longer speak,” Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., took to the Senate floor Wednesday to mount an old-school filibuster of John Brennan, President Obama’s pick to head the Central Intelligence Agency.

“I rise today to begin to filibuster John Brennan’s nomination for the CIA,” Paul began shortly before noon ET. “I will speak as long as it takes, until the alarm is sounded from coast to coast that our Constitution is important, that your rights to trial by jury are precious, that no American should be killed by a drone on American soil without first being charged with a crime, without first being found to be guilty by a court.”

Five hours later, he was still going strong. Several other senators joined in Paul’s filibuster, including Democrat Ron Wyden of Oregon and Republicans Ted Cruz of Texas, Marco Rubio of Florida and Mike Lee of Utah.

The New York Times:

Mr. Paul, who opposes the nomination of John O. Brennan to lead the Central Intelligence Agency, had previously said he would filibuster President Obama’s nominee after receiving a letter this month from Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. that refused to rule out the use of drone strikes within the United States in “extraordinary circumstances” like the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

And on Wednesday, Mr. Paul did exactly as promised, taking to the Senate floor to filibuster Mr. Brennan’s nomination.

…Mr. Paul is the first senator to use an actual filibuster after the Senate reached a deal earlier this year to take some basic steps to limit the filibuster.

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— Posted by Tracy Bloom.