--- title: Elizabeth Warren Silenced: Other Senators Broke Rule 19 description: Elizabeth Warren was silenced during the Jeff Sessions debate, but other senators have been involved with comparable behavior in the past canonical: https://time.com/4664081/senate-elizabeth-warren-mitch-mcconnell-rule-19/ author: Aric Jenkins article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-02-08T22:00:23.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T03:12:45.397Z article:section: Politics og:title: Elizabeth Warren Was Silenced for Criticizing a Senator. But the Senate Is Not Always So Civil og:description: The rule that silenced Elizabeth Warren in Senate has been sidestepped before og:url: https://time.com/4664081/senate-elizabeth-warren-mitch-mcconnell-rule-19/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt786a6ba99280607d/6988b95d0b72e346346ec93c/elizabeth-warren2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4000 og:image:height: 2250 og:image:alt: GOP Muzzles Warren in Sessions Debate, Creating Viral Moment og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Elizabeth Warren Was Silenced for Criticizing a Senator. But the Senate Is Not Always So Civil twitter:description: The rule that silenced Elizabeth Warren in Senate has been sidestepped before twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt786a6ba99280607d/6988b95d0b72e346346ec93c/elizabeth-warren2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Elizabeth Warren Was Silenced for Criticizing a Senator. But the Senate Is Not Always So Civil > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. 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It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=172a74d0-046d-4f85-b4f2-fb19ce2d0a2d&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) by [Aric Jenkins](https://time.com/author/aric-jenkins/) ## Aric Jenkins Feb 8, 2017 10:00 PM UTC  Elizabeth Warren waits to participate in a television interview in the Russell Senate Office building rotunda in Washington, on Feb. 8, 2017. Elizabeth Warren waits to participate in a television interview in the Russell Senate Office building rotunda in Washington, on Feb. 8, 2017. Andrew Harrer—Bloomberg/Getty Images by [Aric Jenkins](https://time.com/author/aric-jenkins/) ## Aric Jenkins Feb 8, 2017 10:00 PM UTC As the “world’s greatest deliberative body,” the U.S. Senate prides itself on civility. And it was one of the rules designed to promote that civility that was used to formally [silence Sen. Elizabeth Warren](http://time.com/4663578/elizabeth-warren-jeff-sessions-coretta-scott-king-senate/) Tuesday. But the Senate is not always so civil. In remarks on attorney general nominee Sen. Jeff Sessions, Warren was accused of running afoul of Rule 19, which was added to the upper chamber’s parliamentary rules in 1902 after a [brawl literally broke out on the Senate floor](http://time.com/4663698/elizabeth-warren-rule-xix-history/). That rule bars Senators from “impugning the motives and conduct” for their Senate colleagues. That rule [has not always been invoked](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/02/08/the-history-of-the-senates-rule-19-suggests-it-is-very-loosely-enforced/?utm%5Fterm=.e2fb584ab2fc) in the past, however, and at times Senators have shown themselves more than willing to be a little uncivil. Here’s a quick look at four other times the U.S. Senate was a little rough around the edges. **The time the Senate Majority Leader called other senators ‘puppets’** In December of 2007, Reid, then the majority leader, [argued that Republican Senators](https://lasvegassun.com/news/2007/dec/06/with-zinger-reid-hits-a-sensitive-spot/) were “puppets” of President George W. Bush. “He is the man who is pulling the strings on the 49 puppets he has here in the Senate,” Reid said, according to the Las Vegas _Sun_. “That is too bad for the country.” **The time a Senator called the other party’s leader ‘cancerous’** In May of 2016, Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton [referred to Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid’s](http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/tom-cotton-harry-reid-223567) leadership as “cancerous.” “I’m forced to listen to the bitter, vulgar, incoherent ramblings of the minority leader,” [Cotton said](http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/tom-cotton-harry-reid-223567) on the Senate floor. “Normally, like every other American, I ignore them. I can’t ignore them today… When was the last time the minority leader read a bill? It was probably an electricity bill… This institution will be cursed less with his cancerous leadership.” **The time a Senator called his own party leader a liar** In July of 2015, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz [accused Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of lying to his colleagues](https://www.theatlantic.com/amp/article/399590/). “What we just saw today was an absolute demonstration that not only what \[McConnell\] told every Republican senator, but what he told the press over and over and over again, was a simple lie,” Cruz said on the floor of the Senate. “We know now that when the majority leader looks us in the eyes and makes an explicit commitment, that he is willing to say things that he knows are false. That has consequences for how this body operates.” **The time the Vice President told a Senator to ‘go f–k yourself’** In June of 2004, then-Vice President Dick Cheney was in the Senate for a class photo. According to several accounts, he scolded Vermont Sen. Pat Leahy for criticizing his ties to defense contractor Halliburton, and things escalated. “In response to Cheney, Leahy reminded Cheney that the vice president had once accused him of being a bad Catholic, to which Cheney replied either ‘f–k off’ or ‘go f–k yourself,'” [CNN reported at the time](http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/06/24/cheney.leahy/). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4664081/senate-elizabeth-warren-mitch-mcconnell-rule-19/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4664081/senate-elizabeth-warren-mitch-mcconnell-rule-19/"},"headline":"Elizabeth Warren Was Silenced for Criticizing a Senator. 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