Tagged: drones

Ending early Thursday morning, U.S. Sen. Rand Paul filibustered the nomination of  John Brennan for CIA director for nearly 13 hours.

Speaking on the Senate floor, Republican Rand Paul is actively filibustering the nomination of John Brennan as director of the CIA, citing concerns over President Obama's policy on drones and civil liberties.

Earlier this week, Kentucky's junior senator received a controversial response from Attorney General Eric Holder about the administration’s use of unmanned aircrafts.

Holder told Paul the president could theoretically authorize deadly force to be used against a citizen on U.S. soil without due process.

Since Wednesday morning, Paul has been delaying Brennan's nomination and pledged to talk until he couldn't anymore.

Paul says the White House is continuing the controversial policies of former President George W. Bush, which candidate Obama spoke out against in 2007.

"We had a president who ran for office saying your phone shouldn’t be tapped without a warrant. I happened to agree with candidate Obama. But what happened to candidate Obama who wanted to protect the right to privacy of your who doesn’t care much about your right not to be killed by a drone without any kind of judicial proceeding," he says.

Congressman John Yarmuth is the lone Democrat in Kentucky’s federal delegation.

That makes Yarmuth the only liberal voice arguably in the region, and the lawmaker that the Obama administration confers with over potential federal appointments in the state.

Now in his fifth term in Congress, Yarmuth is the co-sponsor of a number of progressive bills, including campaign finance reforms and gun control measures.

But since 2010, he has been in the minority railing against the Republican-controlled House.

In terms of politics, Yarmuth has been the chief cheerleader for Ashley Judd, who is the rumored top-contender to run against Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell.

Courts should decide whether the U.S. should use drone attacks on American citizens who are abroad and accused of committing crimes against the nation, U.S. Sen. Rand Paul said.

Paul told Kentucky Public Radio on Monday that he would prefer a judge or jury make those decisions, as they do with crimes committed inside the U.S.

"We still, even for bad people, give them a trial and a jury to make sure we get the guilty people and not kill an innocent person," he said.