Sen Rand Paul to slam surveillance ‘until he can no longer speak’

Sen Rand Paul (R-KY) took to the Senate floor to launch a “filibuster” of a bill to reauthorize a major government surveillance program. One problem: It’s not yet a filibuster. With key parts of the PATRIOT Act set to expire at the end of May -- and the Senate set to skip town at the end of the week -- Sen Paul started speaking at about 1:15 pm. The 2016 Republican candidate has made his opposition to government surveillance a key tenet of his quest for the White House and threatened previously to filibuster any effort from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) bill to extend parts of the PATRIOT Act.

A spokeswoman for Sen Paul said he would talk “until he can no longer speak,” but Sen Paul’s ongoing diatribe isn’t a true filibuster like the one he famously mounted over drone policy in 2013. The Senate is currently working through the 30 hours of debate on a trade bill and is scheduled to vote one hour after the chamber officially convenes on May 21st. If Sen Paul were to talk through the night, Senate procedure would cut him off at about 1 pm tomorrow. That gives Sen Paul, who was joined by Sen Ron Wyden (D-OR) for a colloquy at around 3:30 pm, hours to lash out against the National Security Agency, without actually gumming up the legislative works.