GOP Silencing of Senator Warren Means Big Campaign Bucks, Publicity

U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren, by virtue of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-Kentucky) decision to silence her over rules governing the "impugning" of another sitting senator — in this case, attorney general nominee Jeff Sessions — is receiving more publicity than she could have ever imagined.

She had already spoken out against Sessions's bid for more than 45 minutes when McConnell invoked a rarely-used Senate rule. Warren had been in the midst of reading a letter from Coretta Scott King, deceased wife of civil rights legend Martin Luther King Jr., that King had written to show her opposition to Sessions's bid for a 1986 federal judgeship. U.S. Senator Steve Daines (R-Montana), wielding the gavel Tuesday night, ordered Warren to sit down, after she had been warned several times earlier regarding her conduct.