Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell did not say to shutup and sit down but that was the result of his objection to Senator Elizabeth Warren’s speech. Twitter quickly came alive with people saying #LetLizTalk

Senator McConnell used his power to silence an opposing voice in a confirmation hearing. He invoked Senate rule 19 which in part says

2. No Senator in debate shall, 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 word impugn is often used in quotes of Senator McConnell and the party-line vote to silence Senator Warren. Impugn and impute are similar but different words and I’m not sure if that makes any difference.

What was Senator Warren’s offense ? She read from a 1986 letter from Coretta Scott King, civil rights icon and widow of Martin Luther King Jr., opposing the nomination of Jeff Sessions for a federal judgeship (the issue in 1986). Mrs. King’s words that Jeff Sessions, Senator and now President Trump’s nominee for Attorney General, was unfit to be a federal judge because of his actions.

McConnell to my knowledge has not taken a stand on those allegations. But seems to believe that drawing the Senate’s attention to them is a problem when Senator Warren reads a 30 year old letter concerning Senator Sessions’ actions. In other words, it is not so much a problem with his actions but just talking about them in the Senate is enough to silence a Senator.

The Democratic Senators now have to figure out how they can point out the nominee’s actions and that he is responsible for his actions without imputing those actions to him. Or they just could give up and shutup and sit down.

The CNN article cited above quotes Bernice King, daughter of Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, as writing on Twitter: “Thank you @SenWarren for being the soul of the Senate during the #Sessions hearing. #LetCorettaSpeak #LetLizSpeak”