Elizabeth Warren Told To Sit Down For Quoting Ted Kennedy On Senate Floor

It's probably the first time that someone has been rebuked by the United States Senate for quoting legendary former senator Ted Kennedy on the Senate floor. But that's what happened Tuesday to Sen. Elizabeth Warren as she spoke about the nomination of Jeff Sessions to be attorney general.

She might have gotten away with it had she not followed it up by reading from a letter written by Coretta Scott King, widow of Martin Luther King Jr. and a civil rights leader.

"He is, I believe, a disgrace to the Justice Department and he should withdraw his nomination and resign his position," were the words of Kennedy that Warren quoted. Kennedy had been a member of the Senate Judiciary committee in 1986 when Sessions was nominated to the federal bench by President Reagan.

Sessions, then the United States attorney in Alabama, was defeated. Kennedy had led the opposition to his nomination.

That led to a warning to Warren to be careful about attacking the integrity of a fellow senator.

She would tell a reporter that she thought because Kennedy — a senator — had made the comments in the Senate, they would be fair game.

She then went on to a letter that King had written to Sen. Strom Thurmond, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee at the time.

"Mr. Sessions has used the awesome power of his office to chill the free exercise of the vote by black citizens in the district he now seeks to serve as a federal judge," she had written.

After the disgrace comment, Sen. Steve Daines, a freshman Republican from Montana, who was presiding over the Senate and objected, warned Warren that she was in violation of Senate rules by impugning a colleague.

Warren objected, saying that she was merely repeating King's words and asked that she be allowed to continue.

"Mrs. King's views and words ring true today," Warren said. "The integrity of our Justice Department depends on an attorney general who will fight for the rights of all people. An honest evaluation of Jeff Sessions' record shows that he is not that person."

As Warren got to a part of King's letter warning that Sessions would "chill the free exercise of the vote by black citizens," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell entered the chambers and objected.

"The senator has impugned the motives and conduct of our colleague from Alabama," McConnell said, citing Rule 19 of the Senate, which prohibits senators from "directly or indirectly, by any form of words impute to another Senator or to other Senators any conduct or motive unworthy or unbecoming a Senator."

The Senate then voted 49-43 to rebuke her. Warren will be allowed to vote on Sessions' nomination but will not be allowed to speak from the Senate floor.

"I've been red-carded on Sen. Sessions," she said on "The Rachel Maddow Show." "I'm out of the game on the Senate floor. I don't get to speak at all."

She also took to Twitter defiantly.

And went on Facebook Live where she read Coretta Scott King's letter in full, saying, "Republicans took away my right to read this letter on the floor — so I'm right outside, reading it now."

As expected, Warren's rebuke drew outrage from other Democrats.

The hashtag #LetLizSpeak started popping up all over Twitter.

Photo via Elizabeth Warren's Senate YouTube channel