Rand Paul Live Stream: Filibuster Length Now Eight and Half Hours

Impact

Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has been speaking for 8 hours and 45 minutes on the floor of the United States Senate in what is a good old-fashioned talking filibuster of the nomination of John Brennan to the post of CIA director.

Paul has the floor for as long as he can remain standing and talking. Under Senate rules, Paul may yield for questions while still holding the floor. He has done this on numerous occasions today to field questions from sympathetic senators looking to give Paul a break. While being asked questions from other senators, Senate rules do not require Paul to physically be in the chamber. Thus, during these questions, Paul has been able to leave the Senate chamber to take care of business before getting back to the chamber to answer the questions.