Senator wanted to fight Teamsters president during union hearing with UAW's Fain
Eric D. Lawrence, Detroit Free Press
Tue, November 14, 2023
UAW President Shawn Fain and other union leaders testified during a U.S. Senate committee hearing Tuesday on union gains in recent contract talks and the prospects for future organizing, but it was a U.S. senator's animus toward the head of the Teamsters union that briefly stole the show.
Shawn Fain (L), International President of the United Auto Workers, and Sean O'Brien, General President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, testify during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing on Unions on November 14, 2023, in Washington, DC. Union leader testified before the Committee at a hearing titled, "Standing Up Against Corporate Greed: How Unions are Improving the Lives of Working Families."More
U.S. Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Oklahoma, stood up at one point and appeared to be ready to rumble with Teamsters President Sean O'Brien who, like other witnesses, remained seated, prompting committee Chair U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, to remind Mullin that he's a senator and to sit down and that "we’re not here to talk about fights."
Mullin had opened his questioning by referring to social media posts he attributed to O'Brien, which Mullin apparently considered a personal challenge following a testy exchange between the two at a prior hearing. Both then called the other a "thug" and O'Brien called Mullin "an embarrassment."
Senator Markwayne Mullin and former President Donald Trump attend the NCAA Division 1 Wrestling Championships at the BOK Center Saturday, March 18, 2023 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Despite the uncharacteristically lively moment, the hearing of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions otherwise focused on issues of unionization, collective bargaining, some debate about proposed federal legislation known as the Protecting the Right to Organize Act and whether the electric vehicle transition would be good for U.S. workers. The committee hearing's title, "Standing Up Against Corporate Greed: How Unions are Improving the Lives of Working Families," was clearly designed to set the tone, although Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana, questioned its purpose, calling it a "a taxpayer-funded pep rally for big labor unions.”
Sanders, in his opening remarks, however, had painted issue as one where the working class has struggled even as enormous wealth has flowed to the super rich in recent decades.
"How do we create an economy that works for all of our people and not just the few?" he said. "We have more wealth inequality than the Gilded Age."
In his testimony, Fain was joined by O'Brien and Association of Flight Attendants President Sara Nelson in discussing recent and ongoing contract fights, including gains in the recent tentative agreements between the UAW and Ford Motor Co., General Motors and Stellantis as well as the contract that the Teamsters inked with UPS.
UAW President Shawn Fain testifies before a U.S. Senate committee on Tuesday in this screen shot from the livestream.
Fain spoke on his personal history, the agreements that union members are now voting on and the way that other nonunion automakers like Toyota and Honda have announced wage hikes and other improvements in the wake of those agreements. Fain also highlighted the need for "a pro-worker Congress," and he pointed to three crises he said are linked — income inequality, the transition to a green economy and retirement insecurity.
"They are the fight for our future," he said.
Retirement security or a lack of it for many Americans is one area that Fain has said the United Auto Workers union would be circling as an issue when the union returns to bargaining with the Detroit Three in 2028. He has said it would require the involvement of the federal government to help solve.
During one exchange, Fain was asked about the announcement Monday by Stellantis, owner of Jeep, Ram, Chrysler, Dodge and Fiat, that it would offer buyouts to 6,400 of its 12,700 non-bargaining U.S. employees, those with five or more years of service, in light of agreement with the UAW.
Shawn Fain, International President of the United Auto Workers, greets U.S. Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) as he arrives to testify during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing on Unions on November 14, 2023, in Washington, DC. Union leader testified before the Committee at a hearing titled, "Standing Up Against Corporate Greed: How Unions are Improving the Lives of Working Families."
Fain, tying the move to "short-sighted goals" to recognize corporate profits, said it has "nothing to do with our contract ... they made $12 billion in the first six months of this year."
Diana Furchtgott Roth, director of the Center for Energy, Climate, and Environment at the conservative Heritage Foundation, was a key witness in opposition to union priorities. She questioned the UAW's stance on the electric vehicle transition, saying it's not justice to make cars so expensive that Americans can't afford them and that it would benefit China, and reminding the audience of the corruption scandal, which had sent former UAW leaders and auto executives to prison.
Contact Eric D. Lawrence: elawrence@freepress.com. Become a subscriber.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: UAW, Teamsters leaders testify on unions at Senate committee hearing
Eric D. Lawrence, Detroit Free Press
Tue, November 14, 2023
UAW President Shawn Fain and other union leaders testified during a U.S. Senate committee hearing Tuesday on union gains in recent contract talks and the prospects for future organizing, but it was a U.S. senator's animus toward the head of the Teamsters union that briefly stole the show.
Shawn Fain (L), International President of the United Auto Workers, and Sean O'Brien, General President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, testify during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing on Unions on November 14, 2023, in Washington, DC. Union leader testified before the Committee at a hearing titled, "Standing Up Against Corporate Greed: How Unions are Improving the Lives of Working Families."More
U.S. Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Oklahoma, stood up at one point and appeared to be ready to rumble with Teamsters President Sean O'Brien who, like other witnesses, remained seated, prompting committee Chair U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, to remind Mullin that he's a senator and to sit down and that "we’re not here to talk about fights."
Mullin had opened his questioning by referring to social media posts he attributed to O'Brien, which Mullin apparently considered a personal challenge following a testy exchange between the two at a prior hearing. Both then called the other a "thug" and O'Brien called Mullin "an embarrassment."
Senator Markwayne Mullin and former President Donald Trump attend the NCAA Division 1 Wrestling Championships at the BOK Center Saturday, March 18, 2023 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Despite the uncharacteristically lively moment, the hearing of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions otherwise focused on issues of unionization, collective bargaining, some debate about proposed federal legislation known as the Protecting the Right to Organize Act and whether the electric vehicle transition would be good for U.S. workers. The committee hearing's title, "Standing Up Against Corporate Greed: How Unions are Improving the Lives of Working Families," was clearly designed to set the tone, although Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana, questioned its purpose, calling it a "a taxpayer-funded pep rally for big labor unions.”
Sanders, in his opening remarks, however, had painted issue as one where the working class has struggled even as enormous wealth has flowed to the super rich in recent decades.
"How do we create an economy that works for all of our people and not just the few?" he said. "We have more wealth inequality than the Gilded Age."
In his testimony, Fain was joined by O'Brien and Association of Flight Attendants President Sara Nelson in discussing recent and ongoing contract fights, including gains in the recent tentative agreements between the UAW and Ford Motor Co., General Motors and Stellantis as well as the contract that the Teamsters inked with UPS.
UAW President Shawn Fain testifies before a U.S. Senate committee on Tuesday in this screen shot from the livestream.
Fain spoke on his personal history, the agreements that union members are now voting on and the way that other nonunion automakers like Toyota and Honda have announced wage hikes and other improvements in the wake of those agreements. Fain also highlighted the need for "a pro-worker Congress," and he pointed to three crises he said are linked — income inequality, the transition to a green economy and retirement insecurity.
"They are the fight for our future," he said.
Retirement security or a lack of it for many Americans is one area that Fain has said the United Auto Workers union would be circling as an issue when the union returns to bargaining with the Detroit Three in 2028. He has said it would require the involvement of the federal government to help solve.
During one exchange, Fain was asked about the announcement Monday by Stellantis, owner of Jeep, Ram, Chrysler, Dodge and Fiat, that it would offer buyouts to 6,400 of its 12,700 non-bargaining U.S. employees, those with five or more years of service, in light of agreement with the UAW.
Shawn Fain, International President of the United Auto Workers, greets U.S. Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) as he arrives to testify during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing on Unions on November 14, 2023, in Washington, DC. Union leader testified before the Committee at a hearing titled, "Standing Up Against Corporate Greed: How Unions are Improving the Lives of Working Families."
Fain, tying the move to "short-sighted goals" to recognize corporate profits, said it has "nothing to do with our contract ... they made $12 billion in the first six months of this year."
Diana Furchtgott Roth, director of the Center for Energy, Climate, and Environment at the conservative Heritage Foundation, was a key witness in opposition to union priorities. She questioned the UAW's stance on the electric vehicle transition, saying it's not justice to make cars so expensive that Americans can't afford them and that it would benefit China, and reminding the audience of the corruption scandal, which had sent former UAW leaders and auto executives to prison.
Contact Eric D. Lawrence: elawrence@freepress.com. Become a subscriber.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: UAW, Teamsters leaders testify on unions at Senate committee hearing
Bernie Sanders stops GOP senator from fighting teamster president at hearing: 'You're a United States senator!'
Madison Hall
BUSINESS INSIDER
Tue, November 14, 2023
Bernie SandersChip Somodevilla/Getty Images
A Republican senator and the president of the Teamsters almost got into a fist fight Tuesday.
The almost-skirmish was snuffed out, however, before it could even begin by an 82-year-old senator.
"You're a United States senator!" Bernie Sanders yelled at his colleague.
Sen. Bernie Sanders stopped a fight from breaking out in the middle of a Senate committee meeting on Tuesday when a Republican senator stood up from his chair to fistfight a labor leader who was testifying.
The incident occurred during a Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions hearing titled "Standing Up Against Corporate Greed; How Unions are Improving the Lives of Working Families," where Teamsters President Sean O'Brien and other labor leaders were scheduled to speak.
During the hearing, Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma read aloud a post O'Brien previously made to X, formerly known as Twitter, where he called the Republican senator a "Greedy CEO who pretends like he's self made."
"In reality, just a clown & fraud," O'Brien wrote. "Always has been, always will be. Quit the tough guy act in these senate hearings. You know where to find me. Anyplace, Anytime cowboy."
In June, Mullin drafted his response to O'Brien's comments onto X, challenging him to an "MMA fight for charity," though the brawl never actually took place.
After reading out the post on Tuesday, Mullins responded to the criticism in person, particularly to the claim that he was pretending to be self-made. He then stared down the labor leader, saying "Sir, this is a time and this is a place. If you want to run your mouth we can be two consenting adults. We can finish it here."
"Ok, that's fine, perfect," O'Brien said.
"You want to do it now?" The senator replied.
"I'd love to do it right now," the labor leader responded.
"Then stand your butt up then," Mullin said.
"You stand your butt up, big guy," O'Brien said, leading Mullin to stand up and play with the ring affixed to his hand in preparation for a fight.
"No, no, sit down," Sanders said. "You're a United States senator."
The almost-brawl comes approximately eight months after a previous committee hearing in March where O'Brien accused Mullin of being a "greedy CEO" who "hid money."
Tue, November 14, 2023
Bernie SandersChip Somodevilla/Getty Images
A Republican senator and the president of the Teamsters almost got into a fist fight Tuesday.
The almost-skirmish was snuffed out, however, before it could even begin by an 82-year-old senator.
"You're a United States senator!" Bernie Sanders yelled at his colleague.
Sen. Bernie Sanders stopped a fight from breaking out in the middle of a Senate committee meeting on Tuesday when a Republican senator stood up from his chair to fistfight a labor leader who was testifying.
The incident occurred during a Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions hearing titled "Standing Up Against Corporate Greed; How Unions are Improving the Lives of Working Families," where Teamsters President Sean O'Brien and other labor leaders were scheduled to speak.
During the hearing, Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma read aloud a post O'Brien previously made to X, formerly known as Twitter, where he called the Republican senator a "Greedy CEO who pretends like he's self made."
"In reality, just a clown & fraud," O'Brien wrote. "Always has been, always will be. Quit the tough guy act in these senate hearings. You know where to find me. Anyplace, Anytime cowboy."
In June, Mullin drafted his response to O'Brien's comments onto X, challenging him to an "MMA fight for charity," though the brawl never actually took place.
After reading out the post on Tuesday, Mullins responded to the criticism in person, particularly to the claim that he was pretending to be self-made. He then stared down the labor leader, saying "Sir, this is a time and this is a place. If you want to run your mouth we can be two consenting adults. We can finish it here."
"Ok, that's fine, perfect," O'Brien said.
"You want to do it now?" The senator replied.
"I'd love to do it right now," the labor leader responded.
"Then stand your butt up then," Mullin said.
"You stand your butt up, big guy," O'Brien said, leading Mullin to stand up and play with the ring affixed to his hand in preparation for a fight.
"No, no, sit down," Sanders said. "You're a United States senator."
The almost-brawl comes approximately eight months after a previous committee hearing in March where O'Brien accused Mullin of being a "greedy CEO" who "hid money."
Watch Bernie Sanders Stop a Republican Senator From Fighting a Union Leader
Trudy Ring
ADVOCATE
Tue, November 14, 2023
Senator Markwayne Mullin Challenges Teamster Fight
Tue, November 14, 2023
Senator Markwayne Mullin Challenges Teamster Fight
Far-right U.S. Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma challenged Teamsters union leader Sean O’Brien to a physical fight during a Senate hearing Tuesday, and the two might have exchanged blows had Sen. Bernie Sanders not intervened.
The dustup happened during a hearing of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. The topic was how unions have helped workers economically and can continue doing so. But Mullin, a Republican who’s a former mixed martial arts fighter, took the opportunity to call out O’Brien, general president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, on tweets O’Brien had posted after a previous hearing.
Mullin, who owns a plumbing company, read aloud one of O’Brien’s tweets about him: “Greedy CEO who pretends like he’s self-made. In reality, just a clown and fraud. Always has been, always will be. Quit the tough guy act in these Senate hearings. You know where to find me. Anyplace, anytime cowboy.”
Mullin then said, “Sir, this is a time, this is a place. You want to run your mouth, we can be two consenting adults, we can finish it here.”
“OK, that’s fine. Perfect,” O’Brien said.
“You want to do it now?” Mullin asked. “Stand your butt up, then.”
“You stand your butt up,” O’Brien responded, and Mullin did stand up as if he were going to fight the union leader. Then Sanders, the committee chair, spoke up.
“Hold it. No, no, no, sit down. Sit down! You’re a United States senator, sit down,” said Sanders, a Vermont independent who caucuses with the Democrats, while banging his gavel.
'Stand your butt up': GOP Sen. Mullin challenges Teamsters boss to fight at Senate hearing www.youtube.com
Mullin and O’Brien traded more insults, calling each other a “thug,” and Mullin suggested a cage match while Sanders sought to restore order.
“Excuse me, hold it,” Sanders said. “Sen. Mullin, I have the mike. If you have questions on any economic issues, anything that was said, go for it. We’re not here to talk about physical abuse.”
After the hearing, both Mullin and O’Brien stood their ground. “He called me out. … He said anytime, anyplace,” Mullin said, according to The Hill. “You don’t call me out and say ‘anytime, anyplace,’ and then not back it up what you said.”
Asked about standards of behavior for senators, Mullin said, “I’m still a guy. He called me. He said it. I just answered the bell. That was all.”
O’Brien said the two should discuss their differences over coffee.
Mullin is a first-term senator who previously served five terms in the U.S. House. He is deeply conservative, and as such is an opponent of LGBTQ+ rights. He received a score of 30 on the Human Rights Campaign’s Congressional Scorecard during his first term and all zeroes in his subsequent terms. In 2020, as a House member, he sponsored legislation that would have barred transgender students from playing on the school sports teams matching their gender identity. It went nowhere.
Among his recent actions, he and another Republican senator, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, sent a letter to the National Association for the Education of Young Children denouncing the group for “promoting the teaching of controversial, far-left ideology on topics like race and gender to children as young as two years old.”
Sanders, for his part, tweeted thanks to the union leaders who appeared at the hearing today — O’Brien, United Auto Workers International President Shawn Fain, and Association of Flight Attendants President Sara Nelson.
— (@)
Alexander Bolton
YAHOO
Tue, November 14, 2023
Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R), a former mixed martial arts fighter, nearly came to blows with the president of the Teamsters at a Senate hearing Tuesday, forcing Chair Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to step in to stop a brawl from breaking out in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee room.
Mullin challenged International Brotherhood of Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien to a fight on the spot after the senator read aloud O’Brien’s tweets calling him out as a “clown” and a “fraud.”
“Sir, this is a time, this is a place. You want to run your mouth, we can be two consenting adults, we can finish it here,” Mullin said from the hearing room dais.
“OK, that’s fine. Perfect,” O’Brien shot back.
“You want to do it now?” Mullin asked. “Stand your butt up then.”
Tue, November 14, 2023
Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R), a former mixed martial arts fighter, nearly came to blows with the president of the Teamsters at a Senate hearing Tuesday, forcing Chair Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to step in to stop a brawl from breaking out in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee room.
Mullin challenged International Brotherhood of Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien to a fight on the spot after the senator read aloud O’Brien’s tweets calling him out as a “clown” and a “fraud.”
“Sir, this is a time, this is a place. You want to run your mouth, we can be two consenting adults, we can finish it here,” Mullin said from the hearing room dais.
“OK, that’s fine. Perfect,” O’Brien shot back.
“You want to do it now?” Mullin asked. “Stand your butt up then.”
“You stand your butt up,” O’Brien retorted, prompting Mullin, who is 46 years old, to stand up from his chair as if he was preparing to spring into the middle of the hearing room to trade blows with the Teamster.
At that point, Sanders tried to take control of the hearing to stop an impromptu cage match from breaking out.
“Hold it. No, no, no, sit down. Sit down! You’re a United State senator, sit down,” Sanders yelled while banging the gavel to restore order in the room.
“This is a hearing. God knows the American people have enough contempt for Congress, let’s not —” Sanders fumed before being cut off by more bellicose cross-talk between Mullin and O’Brien.
Mullin then tried to challenge the Teamsters official to a real cage match with the proceeds going to charity, but Sanders gabbed the mic to interrupt his Republican colleague.
“Excuse me, hold it. Sen. Mullin, I have the mic. If you have questions on any economic issues, anything that was said, go for it. We’re not here to talk about physical abuse,” Sanders said.
The purpose of the hearing, which was called for by Sanders, was show how unions are improving the lives of working families.
Mullin argued that he was trying to expose O’Brien as a “thug” after the Teamsters leader tweeted at him after a prior contentious Health, Education and Labor Committee hearing in March, when O’Brien called Mullin, who previously owned a plumbing company, a “greedy CEO,” and Mullin told the union official to “shut his mouth.”
The Oklahoma senator didn’t back down or apologize when later asked about his conduct.
“He called me out. … He said anytime, anyplace. You don’t call me out and say ‘anytime, anyplace,’ and then not back it up what you said,” Mullin said.
“I answered his call. Period,” he added.
Asked if he should be held to a higher standard as a member of the U.S. Senate, Mullin said: “I’m still a guy. He called me. He said it. I just answered the bell. That was all.”
At the hearing, the Oklahoma senator held out printouts of O’Brien’s posts on Twitter, which has been rebranded as X.
“You tweeted at me, one, two, three, four, five times,” Mullin said at the hearing. “Let me read what the last one said: ‘Greedy CEO who pretends like he’s self-made. What a clown, fraud. Always has been, always will be. Quit the tough-guy act in these Senate hearings. You know where to find me, anyplace, anytime.'”
The senator insisted he spent long hours in his plumbing truck building his business, while his wife managed the office.
O’Brien didn’t back down from his tweets, either, calling Mullin “an embarrassment” and telling him to “grow up.”
“You want to fight me? Let’s have coffee, discuss our differences,” he said.
A Republican Senator Is Going Viral For Trying To Physically Fight A Witness During A Senate Hearing
BuzzFeed
Tue, November 14, 2023
The United States government is essentially a barely functioning circus.
Westend61 / Getty Images/Westend61
We're talking about a total clown car show!
Stevies / Getty Images/iStockphoto
The latest buffoonery happened during a Senate hearing where a Republican senator from Oklahoma tried to get into a physical fight with a union leader.
Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images
This clip of Senator Markwayne Mullin from Oklahoma challenging Teamster boss Sean O’Brien has since gone mega-viral:
CSPAN/ Twitter: @NoLieWithBTC
I like how he even adjusted his ring.
CSPAN
The drama of it all!!
CSPAN
As you can see, 82-year-old Bernie Sanders had to step in and try to calm him down.
CSPAN
"God knows Americans have enough contempt for Congress, let's not make it worse!" he said.
CSPAN
And, yep, Bernie is right on this one. We've all had enough.
CSPAN
I guess the show must go on!
Chanakon Laorob / Getty Images
GOP Sen Mullin, union boss almost come to blows in Senate hearing: 'Stand your butt up'
Andrew Miller
FAUX NEWS
Tue, November 14, 2023
A Senate committee hearing appeared to be on the brink of a physical altercation on Tuesday as a Republican senator stood up and threatened to fight a labor leader as the committee's chairman, Sen. Bernie Sanders, tried to play peacemaker.
"Sir, this is a time, this is a place. You want to run your mouth, we can be two consenting adults and we can finish it here," GOP Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma told Teamsters President Sean O'Brien during a Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing after reading a tweet in which O'Brien said he could take the senator "any time" or "any place."
"OK, that's fine, perfect," O'Brien responded.
"You want to do it now?" Mullin asked.
BERNIE SANDERS REFUSES TO CONDEMN TLAIB COMMENTS DEEMED 'ANTISEMITIC'
Teamsters President Sean O'Brien, left, and Sen. Markwayne Mullin
"I would love to do it right now," O'Brien said, prompting Mullin to say, "Well, stand your butt up then."
READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP
"You stand your butt up, big guy," O'Brien said.
Mullin, a former MMA fighter, stood up from his chair and seemed set on making his way over to where the Teamsters president was sitting.
Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin rises from his seat during Tuesday's Senate Health Committee hearing with the president of the Teamsters.
"Stop it, hold it, no, no, sit down," said Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, the chairman of the committee, in an attempt to calm the pair down. "You're a United States senator. Sit down."
Both Mullin and O'Brien asked permission from Sanders to respond to each other after Mullin sat down, but Sanders denied their requests.
The two continued to go back and forth for several minutes.
"You challenged me to a cage match, acting like a 12-year-old," O'Brien said after Mullin accused him of being "quiet" in the face of a challenge.
"Excuse me, hold it," Sanders said, shouting over the Oklahoma senator. "Sen. Mullin, I have the mic."
"We're not here to talk about physical abuse," Sanders said.
Mullin then pointed a finger at O'Brien and called him a "thug," which caused O'Brien to call Mullin "disrespectful."
The two then told each other that they both don't respect one another, causing Sanders to interject again.
"Hold it," Sanders said while banging his gavel. "This is a hearing to discuss economic issues … we're not here to talk about fights or anything else."
The two continued to bicker, despite the pleas from Sanders, until the hearing eventually moved on to the next line of questioning from other members of the panel.
O'Brien and Mullin have a contentious history dating back to March when the two sparred in a heated Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing over O'Brien's salary compared to that of his union members.
Sanders was forced to intervene in that argument as well.
The two ignored Sanders and continued talking over each other, appearing to grow increasingly frustrated, before Mullin said, "Sir, you need to shut your mouth because you don't know what you're talking about."
"You're going to tell me to shut my mouth?" O'Brien responded before mocking Mullin's opening statement in which he said he wasn't "afraid" of a physical altercation.
Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders
Sanders eventually quieted the two and made Mullin provide O'Brien time to speak.
Fox News Digital reached out to the offices of Mullin and Sanders as well as the Teamsters but did not immediately receive a response.
Fox News Digital's Brandon Gillespie contributed to this report.
Ian Swanson
Tue, November 14, 2023
A Senate committee hearing appeared to be on the brink of a physical altercation on Tuesday as a Republican senator stood up and threatened to fight a labor leader as the committee's chairman, Sen. Bernie Sanders, tried to play peacemaker.
"Sir, this is a time, this is a place. You want to run your mouth, we can be two consenting adults and we can finish it here," GOP Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma told Teamsters President Sean O'Brien during a Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing after reading a tweet in which O'Brien said he could take the senator "any time" or "any place."
"OK, that's fine, perfect," O'Brien responded.
"You want to do it now?" Mullin asked.
BERNIE SANDERS REFUSES TO CONDEMN TLAIB COMMENTS DEEMED 'ANTISEMITIC'
Teamsters President Sean O'Brien, left, and Sen. Markwayne Mullin
"I would love to do it right now," O'Brien said, prompting Mullin to say, "Well, stand your butt up then."
READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP
"You stand your butt up, big guy," O'Brien said.
Mullin, a former MMA fighter, stood up from his chair and seemed set on making his way over to where the Teamsters president was sitting.
Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin rises from his seat during Tuesday's Senate Health Committee hearing with the president of the Teamsters.
"Stop it, hold it, no, no, sit down," said Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, the chairman of the committee, in an attempt to calm the pair down. "You're a United States senator. Sit down."
Both Mullin and O'Brien asked permission from Sanders to respond to each other after Mullin sat down, but Sanders denied their requests.
The two continued to go back and forth for several minutes.
"You challenged me to a cage match, acting like a 12-year-old," O'Brien said after Mullin accused him of being "quiet" in the face of a challenge.
"Excuse me, hold it," Sanders said, shouting over the Oklahoma senator. "Sen. Mullin, I have the mic."
"We're not here to talk about physical abuse," Sanders said.
Mullin then pointed a finger at O'Brien and called him a "thug," which caused O'Brien to call Mullin "disrespectful."
The two then told each other that they both don't respect one another, causing Sanders to interject again.
"Hold it," Sanders said while banging his gavel. "This is a hearing to discuss economic issues … we're not here to talk about fights or anything else."
The two continued to bicker, despite the pleas from Sanders, until the hearing eventually moved on to the next line of questioning from other members of the panel.
O'Brien and Mullin have a contentious history dating back to March when the two sparred in a heated Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing over O'Brien's salary compared to that of his union members.
Sanders was forced to intervene in that argument as well.
The two ignored Sanders and continued talking over each other, appearing to grow increasingly frustrated, before Mullin said, "Sir, you need to shut your mouth because you don't know what you're talking about."
"You're going to tell me to shut my mouth?" O'Brien responded before mocking Mullin's opening statement in which he said he wasn't "afraid" of a physical altercation.
Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders
Sanders eventually quieted the two and made Mullin provide O'Brien time to speak.
Fox News Digital reached out to the offices of Mullin and Sanders as well as the Teamsters but did not immediately receive a response.
Fox News Digital's Brandon Gillespie contributed to this report.
McConnell: Not my ‘responsibility’ to police aggressive behavior of other Republicans
Ian Swanson
The Hill
Tue, November 14, 2023
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday said he doesn’t view it as his “responsibility” to police the behavior of other Republicans, especially aggressive physical behavior, acknowledging it’s “very difficult to control the behavior of everybody who’s in the building.”
McConnell said he was not aware of two incidents from earlier in the day in which Republican lawmakers made headlines for acting aggressively.
Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) had to be verbally restrained by Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) from getting into a fight with the president of the Teamsters during a heated committee hearing.
And Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) accused former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) of giving him a kidney shot by elbowing him in the back while he was talking to reporters.
“It’s very difficult to control the behavior of everybody who’s in the building. I don’t view that as my responsibility. That’s something the Capitol Police will have to deal with,” McConnell told reporters.
Mullin sprang up out of his chair at the Health Committee hearing earlier on Tuesday and invited Sean O’Brien, the general president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, to turn their social media spat into fisticuffs.
“You want to do it now? Stand your butt up then,” Mullin, challenging the labor leader.
O’Brien didn’t shy away from the challenge, telling the Oklahoma senator: “You stand your butt up.”
Sanders, in breaking up the battle, reminded Mullin that he is a U.S. senator.
On the House side, Burchett, who joined seven Republican colleagues in voting to oust McCarthy from the Speakership last month, accused the former Speaker of getting physical with him.
“I was standing there and McCarthy elbowed me in the back,” Burchett told reporters after the encounter.
“I said, ‘Hey, what the heck would you do that for?’ And he acted like, ‘Oh, I didn’t do anything, you know, and he’s just, he needs to go home back to Southern California,” Burchett said.
McConnell appeared surprised when later asked about these two incidents.
“Frankly, I hadn’t heard what you just indicated,” the Senate GOP leader said when asked about those confrontations.
Tue, November 14, 2023
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday said he doesn’t view it as his “responsibility” to police the behavior of other Republicans, especially aggressive physical behavior, acknowledging it’s “very difficult to control the behavior of everybody who’s in the building.”
McConnell said he was not aware of two incidents from earlier in the day in which Republican lawmakers made headlines for acting aggressively.
Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) had to be verbally restrained by Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) from getting into a fight with the president of the Teamsters during a heated committee hearing.
And Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) accused former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) of giving him a kidney shot by elbowing him in the back while he was talking to reporters.
“It’s very difficult to control the behavior of everybody who’s in the building. I don’t view that as my responsibility. That’s something the Capitol Police will have to deal with,” McConnell told reporters.
Mullin sprang up out of his chair at the Health Committee hearing earlier on Tuesday and invited Sean O’Brien, the general president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, to turn their social media spat into fisticuffs.
“You want to do it now? Stand your butt up then,” Mullin, challenging the labor leader.
O’Brien didn’t shy away from the challenge, telling the Oklahoma senator: “You stand your butt up.”
Sanders, in breaking up the battle, reminded Mullin that he is a U.S. senator.
On the House side, Burchett, who joined seven Republican colleagues in voting to oust McCarthy from the Speakership last month, accused the former Speaker of getting physical with him.
“I was standing there and McCarthy elbowed me in the back,” Burchett told reporters after the encounter.
“I said, ‘Hey, what the heck would you do that for?’ And he acted like, ‘Oh, I didn’t do anything, you know, and he’s just, he needs to go home back to Southern California,” Burchett said.
McConnell appeared surprised when later asked about these two incidents.
“Frankly, I hadn’t heard what you just indicated,” the Senate GOP leader said when asked about those confrontations.
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