Bunning Hijacks Senate With Jobless Filibuster

Jim Bunning held the Senate hostage last night, filibustering a move to extend federal unemployment benefits, which will otherwise expire on Sunday, for 30 days. The clash lasted until just before midnight, with Bunning complaining that Democrats had forced him to miss the Kentucky-South Carolina basketball game. But “I'll be here as long as you're here,” he declared, “and I'm going to object every time.”

Bunning is demanding that Democrats pay for the extension out of the stimulus money, rather than passing it unfunded. “I’m trying to make a point,” Bunning said. If Democrats can’t bring Bunning around today, the entire Senate will have to stay over the weekend for a cloture vote—or put off the vote until next week. Democrats berated Bunning. “Really, 30 days of unemployment insurance—have we gotten to the point that that’s going to be a political football?” asked Claire McCaskill. (More Jim Bunning stories.)