Sen. Paul passes 10-hour mark in talking filibuster

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. 

“I’m here to filibuster John Brennan’s nomination to be director of CIA,” Paul said when first taking the floor on Wednesday. “I will speak for as long as it takes.” 

Paul said he’d continue his filibuster for as long as he could or until he gets answers from the administration on its drone program. Paul wants President Obama to say he will not kill U.S. citizens on American soil with drone attack if they are non-enemy combatant. He says U.S. citizens deserve due process.

Several GOP senators have joined Paul to help keep the filibuster going.

“The heart of what you’re standing for is liberty,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said of Paul’s message.

The last talking filibuster in the Senate took place in 2010, when Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) held the Senate floor for eight hours in protest of an agreement to extend Bush-era tax rates.

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