Pelosi: ‘Life is too short’ to watch Rand Paul filibuster

Paul’s filibuster captured the attention of Capitol Hill, both for its length and because it’s rare for lawmakers to mount an old-fashioned talking filibuster in the tradition of “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.” 

{mosads}Pelosi said congressional lawmakers should always be ready to push back against excessive executive power, regardless of which party controls the White House. But she was quick to add that she doesn’t think the administration “has any intention of using drones in the United States – against American citizens or otherwise.”

“I don’t have that fear,” she said. “But I do support, and have been a fighter for … Congress being informed and having sufficient oversight over the actions they might take in relationship to the balance between freedom and security.”

Paul has hammered Obama over his drone policy, saying the administration has withheld information and prevented Congress from checking the power of the executive branch. He’s been particularly focused on the administration’s refusal to say explicitly that it won’t target U.S. citizens with drones on American soil.

“I will speak today until the president says, ‘no,’ he will not kill you at a café,” Paul said Wednesday at the outset of his protest.

Paul’s effort was bolstered by a number of other senators – including Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) – who joined him on the Senate floor. 

“Every American has the right to know when their government believes they have the right to kill them,” Wyden said.

Pelosi, a former member of the House Intelligence Committee, noted that the leaders of the Intelligence panels in both chambers have, by law, access to confidential information that other lawmakers don’t. She said she’s in no position to know if Paul, who is not a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, has due information withheld from him.

“I’d be the last person to ask,” she said. “I don’t know enough about him to even know if he’s on the Intelligence Committee.”