Defense

“To infer that our government would drop a Hellfire missile on Jane Fonda brings the conversation to a ridiculous tone."

Reid frequently warns the Senate of possible Saturday votes, but rarely follows through.

"This issue will not fade away," said Paul as he yielded the floor at 12:39 a.m. Thursday morning.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) came to the floor Wednesday night to support Sen. Rand Paul’s (R-Ky.) filibuster of the nomination of John Brennan to be the next director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

McConnell said Paul is asking a “pretty easily understood question.”

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) successfully made it past the 10-hour mark on his talking filibuster of the Senate.

Paul has been filibustering the nomination of John Brennan to be the director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) since 11:47 a.m. on Wednesday. 

Kentucky Republican filibusters against CIA nominee for nearly 13 hours; ends effort at 12:39 a.m.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) Wednesday evening offered to end his filibuster on the nomination of John Brennan to be the director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

About seven hours into his talking filibuster, Paul asked unanimous consent that the Senate hold an up-or-down vote on Brennan on Thursday. But he also wanted a vote on a resolution that would have expressed the sense of the Senate that use of drones to target American citizens clearly violates the rights of U.S. citizens. The resolution also asks President Obama to give Congress a report on the drone program. 

Reid is asking Republicans to agree to an up-or-down vote for Brennan that would be subject to a 60-vote margin.

In a 58-41 vote, the Senate confirmed Hagel as Defense chief and ended a contentious confirmation fight.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Republicans wasted 12 days by delaying passage of cloture on the nomination of former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) to be the next secretary of Defense.

“Twelve days ago Republicans launched the first of its kind filibuster of Sen. Hagel,” Reid said on the floor Tuesday. “What has the filibuster gained my Republican colleagues, nothing, nothing has changed in 12 days.”