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As widely reported now, Senator Elizabeth Warren was silenced by a vote in the Senate for purportedly violating Rule XIX.

In the last 10 years how many times (or approximately how many), have Senators been called on for violating Senate rules? Is a vote conducted every time?

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  • 3
    Do you get a ticket every time you exceed the speed limit when driving?
    – user9790
    Feb 9, 2017 at 12:59
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    @KDog Most of the time? Lol.
    – Panda
    Feb 9, 2017 at 13:00
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    As a protest, multiple other Senators quoted the same passage as Warren but no vote was called and they weren't silenced. I'd post that as an answer to your second question, but it doesn't address the spirit of the first. Maybe change to "how often are Senators called on violating...".
    – Brythan
    Feb 9, 2017 at 13:06
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    @Brythan Sure, I'll update the question. That was also my motive for asking this question.
    – Panda
    Feb 9, 2017 at 13:08
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    Are you looking for definitive often such as how often Halley's comet is visible from Earth or is something less precise sufficient?
    – The 'Bernie Sanders' Party
    Feb 13, 2017 at 16:23

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According to Senate historians, there are no formal records. One such historian claimed that since the rules inception in 1902, he is aware of two such instances. The last time dating back to the fifties. However, there is evidence of it happening much later.

An important issue can be seen in that second article. Some things can be stricken from the official record. So between not officially recording instances of rule XIX, and the ability to alter the record, we cannot know for certain how many times it has been used, or how many times it may have been threatened but not used because the senator followed the rules once warned.

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