1:27 a.m. | Updated WASHINGTON — A small group of Republicans, led by Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, stalled the Senate on Wednesday by waging a nearly 13-hour old-school, speak-until-you-can-speak-no-more filibuster over the government's use of lethal drone strikes — forcing the Senate to delay the expected confirmation of John O. Brennan to lead the Central Intelligence Agency.
Mr. Paul, who opposes Mr. Brennan's nomination, followed through on his plan to filibuster the confirmation of President Obama's nominee after receiving a letter this month from Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. that refused to rule out the use of drone strikes within the United States in "extraordinary circumstances" like the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
On Wednesday, Mr. Paul did exactly as promised, taking to the Senate floor shortly before noon and holding forth for 12 hours and 52 minutes.
Mr. Paul finally wound down shortly before 1 a.m. on Thursday, surrounded by a group of Republican senators and House members who had joined him on the Senate floor in a show of solidarity.
"I would go for another 12 hours to try to break Strom Thurmond's record, but I've discovered that there are some limits to filibustering and I'm going to have to go take care of one of those in a few minutes here," Mr. Paul said to knowing laughter as he referred to the legendary South Carolina senator known for his 28-hour filibuster. (Mr. Paul could not leave the floor to use the bathroom, making his filibuster at a certain point seem less a standoff between the senator from Kentucky and the administration than a battle between Mr. Paul and his own bladder.)
After almost 13 hours, Mr. Paul offered his final words: "I thank you very much for the forbearance and I yield the floor," he said, to loud applause.
Earlier in the evening, as the filibuster moved into its 11th and 12th hours, the mood grew increasingly punchy, with Mr. Paul's Republican Senate colleagues — who had joined him on the Senate floor periodically throughout the event — making repeat appearances and quoting liberally from pop culture and literature.
Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, at one point seemed to stage a mini-filibuster of the filibuster, reading from Shakespeare ("Henry V") and quoting from "Patton."
Not to be outdone, Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida, took to the floor for his second appearance of the filibuster, quoting the rapper Wiz Khalifa, as well as "that modern-day poet by the name of Jay-Z." Mr. Rubio also quoted from "The Godfather" three times — including, he said, a quote that never made it from the script into the movie. ("A lawyer with his briefcase can steal more than 100 men with guns can steal.")
"I don't know how that's relevant to this," Mr. Rubio admitted, "but I thought I'd bring it up."
At a certain point, as the hour edged closer to midnight, participating in the filibuster seemed to become the gold standard among Senate Republicans, with a parade of Republican senators — Jeff Flake of Arizona; Ron Johnson of Wisconsin; Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader in the Senate; and Tim Scott of South Carolina — emerging for the first time to show their support for Mr. Paul's cause, not to mention the C-SPAN cameras.
Mr. McConnell even made some news of his own Wednesday night, when he stated on the Senate floor that he planned to oppose Mr. Brennan's nomination.
"At whatever point we get to a cloture vote to extend debate on the nomination of Brennan, it is my view that cloture should not be invoked," Mr. McConnell said. "This is a controversial nominee. Should cloture be invoked, I intend to oppose the nomination and congratulate my colleague from Kentucky for this extraordinary effort."
The filibuster started just before noon on Wednesday, with Mr. Paul ostensibly objecting to Mr. Brennan's nomination. But in fact, Mr. Paul's main concerns were those of the civil liberties and Constitutional rights, which he said are under attack by the administration's potential use of unmanned drone strikes on American citizens on United States soil. (By Mr. Paul's own admission, Mr. Brennan, who as the White House counterterrorism adviser was the chief architect of the largely clandestine drone program, served as a good proxy.)
"What will be the standard for how we kill Americans in America?" Mr. Paul asked at one point. "Could political dissent be part of the standard for drone strikes?"
Referring to Jane Fonda, who went to North Vietnam during the war there to publicly denounce the United States's presence in the country, Mr. Paul added: "Now, while I'm not a great fan of Jane Fonda, I'm really not so interested in putting her on a drone kill list either."
Repeatedly, Mr. Paul explained that his true goal was simply to get a response from the administration saying it would not use drone strikes to take out American citizens on United States soil.
Unlike some historic filibusters, in which senators have read from the phone book or recited the Declaration of Independence to kill time, Mr. Paul kept the focus squarely on drones, using most of his time to discuss questions of actual policy.
Still, as the filibuster dragged on, it began to resemble a Shakespearean drama, complete with cameos from other A-list actors (a group of more than a dozen senators who periodically joined Mr. Paul on the floor); a title all its own (the "filiblizzard," a nickname courtesy of Twitter users); and some willing extras (eager Senate pages, purposefully striding across the stage to deliver Mr. Paul fresh glasses of water.)
Although he never yielded the floor — a move that would have effectively ended his talkathon — Mr. Paul did, with some apparent relief, yield periodically to take questions from his Republican colleagues.
Mr. Cruz, who was a repeat guest at the Rand Paul filibuster show, began his first question by making the obvious allusion, referring to Mr. Paul as a "modern-day 'Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,' " joking that his effort would "surely be making Jimmy Stewart smile."
And, perhaps befitting of another public — but hopeless — stand, Mr. Cruz also took the opportunity to remind the chamber that Wednesday was the anniversary of the fall of the Alamo, noting with some pride that Mr. Paul "is originally from the great state of Texas."
Senator Wyden, Democrat of Oregon, stopped by earlier in the day to offer some bipartisan support.
He said that while he had voted in favor of Mr. Brennan's nomination on Tuesday at a Senate Intelligence Committee meeting and planned to vote for him again on the Senate floor, he believed that Mr. Paul "has made a number of important points" about the administration's lethal drone program.
"The executive branch should not be allowed to conduct such a serious and far-reaching program by themselves without any scrutiny, because that's not how American democracy works," he said.
Other members who made cameos throughout the day — and night — included the Republican senators John Barrasso of Wyoming; Saxby Chambliss of Georgia; John Cornyn of Texas; Mark Steven Kirk of Illinois; Mike Lee of Utah; Jerry Moran of Kansas; and John Thune of South Dakota.
Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the No. 3 Democrat in the Senate, presided over much of the filibuster, and even engaged Mr. Paul in a late-night debate over the Sept. 11 attacks.
The filibuster, which by its end had become must-watch reality television for much of the inside-the-Beltway crowd, offered its fair share of quirky moments. Mr. Paul, for instance, ate a "dinner" of a mystery candy bar, continuing his speech through mouthfuls of chocolate. And later, Mr. Kirk, who walks with considerable effort after a stroke in 2012, slowly made his way onto the floor with the help of a walker to place a thermos of green tea and an apple next to Mr. Paul's desk.
Mr. Cruz also read from a list of Twitter messages in support of Mr. Paul's filibuster. Though electronic devices are not allowed on the Senate floor, Mr. Cruz informed his friend that Twitter was "blowing up" over the day's events. ("I was getting kind of tired," Mr. Paul said, thanking Mr. Cruz for "cheering me up.")
Finally, just shortly before 1 a.m., Mr. Paul was finally ready to yield the floor. The entire chamber erupted in applause — and Mr. Paul, presumably, headed off to find the nearest bathroom.
