On Nov. 14, 2023, Mullin was involved in a confrontation<\/a> with a witness during a hearing for the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. The witness, International Brotherhood of Teamsters General President Sean M. O\u2019Brien, had previously derided Mullin as a \u201cGreedy CEO who pretends like he\u2019s self-made.\u201d<\/p>\n Mullin used the hearing as an opportunity to litigate his personal beef with O\u2019Brien.<\/p>\n \u201cYou want to run your mouth\u2026 we can finish it here.\u201d Mullin said.<\/p>\n Both men\u00a0 then rose to presumably brawl in the committee room. This is when Sen. Bernie Sanders had to put an end to it like a profoundly tired substitute teacher breaking up a fight in his classroom.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re a United States Senator\u2026 This is a hearing. God knows the American people have enough contempt for Congress, let\u2019s not make it worse,\u201d Sanders said to Mullin.<\/p>\n As another example, take what happened<\/a> during the Senate Armed Services Hearing on March 4. During the Hearing, Brian McGinnis, A marine veteran who is currently running as the Green Party candidate for Senate in North Carolina, stood up to protest the war in Iran.<\/p>\n Capitol police officers then attempted to remove McGinnis from the room, and a struggle ensued. In the struggle, McGinnis\u2019 arm got lodged in a doorway. Capitol police then attempted to dislodge McGinnis.\u00a0<\/p>\n It is at this moment that Montana Sen. Tim Sheehy decided that he needed to get involved, stepping down from his committee chair to enter the scrum. He grabbed McGinnis\u2019s leg and began to pull.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cNo one wants to fight for Israel,\u201d McGinnis shouted before his arm snapped with an audible crack. Sheehy returned to his seat, as if nothing happened.\u00a0<\/p>\n In a Twitter post<\/a> later that day, Sheehy said he had \u201cdecided to help out and de-escalate the situation,\u201d a remarkable thing to say after breaking someone’s arm.\u00a0<\/p>\n But in my opinion, no senator exudes more \u201ckid who doesn\u2019t want to be in school\u201d energy than Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman.<\/p>\n Fetterman has, by far, the worst attendance<\/a> record of any senator. By March of last year, he had skipped 18.4% of Senate roll-call votes that year, more than any other senator.\u00a0<\/p>\n When he was called out for his poor attendance, Fetterman defend<\/a>ed himself by claiming his absences were due to him prioritizing his mental health, which he has openly struggled with, over the day-to-day work of a senator.\u00a0<\/p>\n When Fetterman does go to work, he can\u2019t even be bothered to do the most basic things, like wearing a suit and tie, instead dresses \u201clike a slob\u201d in his words<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Now, I\u2019m not trying to shame Fetterman for struggling with his mental health. In fact, his ability to talk about his mental health is one of the few truly good things he has done as a senator, but it should be no excuse to not do the job he was elected to do.\u00a0<\/p>\n But the issues in the Senate go beyond a few embarrassing apples. What is more embarrassing than the senators who don\u2019t seem to care about their jobs are the senators who think their job is to appease their party.<\/p>\n The Senate and Congress as a whole have become increasingly deferent to the executive branch in recent decades, a trend that has only accelerated during Trump\u2019s second term. In my opinion, this is the natural result of senators who care more about their party winning than anything else.\u00a0<\/p>\n If your position on any given issue does not tow the party line, you have not performed your duties as expected by your party. This is backwards. Everywhere you go, voters detest politicians who care too much about their party over their constituents. Despite this, senators consistently debase themselves to appease their party.<\/p>\n Take Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, who was a physician before becoming a senator. During the confirmation process for HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr, Cassidy expressed major concerns<\/a> about RFK\u2019s vaccine skepticism. Cassidy would ultimately tow the party line and vote to confirm Kennedy after receiving \u2018assurances\u2019 that there would be no change in government vaccine guidance.\u00a0<\/p>\n These assurances were, unsurprisingly, ignored<\/a> by Kennedy. Cassidy has since expressed frustration<\/a> with the secretary, but that can\u2019t undo his vote that helped confirm a dangerous person to our nation’s highest public health office.\u00a0<\/p>\n Or what about Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, who came out loudly against<\/a> large cuts to America\u2019s social safety net, particularly Medicaid cuts.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cSlashing health insurance for the working poor\u2026 is both morally wrong and politically suicidal,\u201d Hawley said May of last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n If one were inclined to believe Hawley, it would be shocking to learn that he voted for<\/a> the one Big Beautiful Bill, which will cut $1 trillion<\/a> in Medicaid funding over the next decade.\u00a0<\/p>\n As one more example of a senator debasing themselves to appease their party, let’s look at Texas Sen. John Cornyn.\u00a0<\/p>\n It is no secret that Cornyn is looking at a difficult primary election<\/a> against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Both have been bending over backwards to secure Donald Trump\u2019s endorsement, believing it is the key to winning the primary.\u00a0 Perhaps this is why Cornyn has recently flipped<\/a> his position on the Senate filibuster.\u00a0<\/p>\n The filibuster is a parliamentary rule that means 60 senators must vote to end debate on a piece of legislation. It essentially means that any non-budget-related legislation without 60 votes will never pass. It has long been blamed for Congress\u2019s inability to pass substantive legislation, and has long been defended by senators like Cornyn.\u00a0<\/p>\n Cornyn recently penned an op-ed<\/a> for the New York Post, in which he argues the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Actt is more important than the filibuster. So why the sudden flip?<\/p>\n Well, Trump has frequently called<\/a> on the Senate to end the filibuster so his policies can be enacted more easily. Paxton has agreed with the President, even saying<\/a> he would drop out of his race should Senate leadership axe the filibuster to pass the SAVE Act.\u00a0<\/p>\n Cornyn’s flip on his long-held support for the filibuster is an obvious attempt to appease Trump and secure his endorsement.\u00a0<\/p>\n So that is where many senators are. Vaccine skepticism is dangerous, unless you need me to confirm a vaccine skeptic to the cabinet. Medicaid cuts are immoral, unless you need my vote to push them forward. The filibuster is a necessary tool to fight against the tyranny of the majority, unless I really need the president\u2019s endorsement.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Senate is no longer the world’s greatest deliberative body, if indeed it ever was. But I would go a step further and say that it is a stretch to even call the Senate a deliberative body at all.\u00a0<\/p>\n Today, the Senate is chock-full of people who can\u2019t seem to grasp the importance of their job, people who seem annoyed to even be there, who would rather start a fight or skip votes to stay at home rather than do the hard work that should be expected of them.\u00a0<\/p>\n Even those who act professionally are embarrassing, as they spend most of their time as foot-soldiers in some ever-present ideological battle, willing to throw away their convictions or their constituents’ desires to tow a party line. Maybe because it\u2019s easier to do that than to do the substantive work of drafting and voting on legislation.\u00a0<\/p>\n But we should be demanding a whole lot more from our senators. These are the individuals we are entrusting to represent us and to pass laws with their colleagues that improve our lives. We should be embarrassed at their seeming inability to do that and their seeming disinterest in their jobs as a whole.\u00a0<\/p>\n Editor’s Pick: February 2026<\/p>\n Editor’s Pick Photo No. 1<\/p>\n March 12, 2026<\/p>\n Nebraska’s Jamarques Lawrence (10) jumps to shoot the ball during the first half of the game against Penn State at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026, in Lincoln.<\/p>\n Photo by Justin Diep<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Editor’s Pick Photo No. 2<\/p>\n March 12, 2026<\/p>\n Hold Your Breath performs at 1867 Bar for night three of Lincoln Exposed on Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026, in Lincoln.<\/p>\n Photo by Justin Diep<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Editor’s Pick Photo No. 3<\/p>\n March 12, 2026<\/p>\n Nebraska’s Sam Hoiberg (1) passes the ball to Cale Jacobsen (31) after he slipped in the first half of the game against Northwestern at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026, in Lincoln.<\/p>\n Photo by Nathan McCaffery<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Editor’s Pick Photo No. 4<\/p>\n March 12, 2026<\/p>\n Social Cinema performs at Bodega\u2019s Alley for night four of Lincoln Exposed on Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026, in Lincoln.<\/p>\n Photo by Justin Diep<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Editor’s Pick Photo No. 5<\/p>\n March 12, 2026<\/p>\n Nebraska’s Sam Hoiberg (1) shouts during the second half in the game against Illinois at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in Lincoln.<\/p>\n Photo by Izzy Lewis<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Editor’s Pick Photo No. 6<\/p>\n March 12, 2026<\/p>\n Beyond Bananas performs at 1867 bar for night one of Lincoln Exposed on Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026 in Lincoln.<\/p>\n Photo by Emma DeShon<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Editor’s Pick Photo No. 7<\/p>\n March 12, 2026<\/p>\n Nebraska’s Lauren Homecillo performs during her beam routine against Ohio State at the Bob Devaney Sports Center on Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026, in Lincoln.<\/p>\n Photo by Samuel Whittaker<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Editor’s Pick Photo No. 8<\/p>\n March 12, 2026<\/p>\n A miracle kid draws an L on Andy Nguyen during the wheel of punishment at HuskerThon at the Nebraska Union on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026, in Lincoln.<\/p>\n Photo by Justin Diep<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Editor’s Pick Photo No. 9<\/p>\n March 12, 2026<\/p>\n Leaves Brown performs at Bodega’s Alley for night two of Lincoln Exposed on Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026, in Lincoln.<\/p>\n Photo by Kalen Krohn<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Editor’s Pick Photo No. 10<\/p>\n March 12, 2026<\/p>\n Nebraska’s Charlie Mick lines up her shot during a match against Jacksonville State at the Nebraska Rifle Range on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in Lincoln.<\/p>\n Photo by Jackson Ingvoldstad<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Editor’s Pick Photo No. 11<\/p>\n March 12, 2026<\/p>\n The Credentials perform at Bodega’s Alley for night one of Lincoln Exposed on Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026 n Lincoln.<\/p>\n Photo by Fisher Madsen<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Editor’s Pick Photo No. 12<\/p>\n March 12, 2026<\/p>\n Nebraska\u2019s Rienk Mast (51) shoots a free throw during the second half of the game against Purdue at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026, in Lincoln.<\/p>\n Photo by Miah Iverson<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Editor’s Pick Photo No. 13<\/p>\n March 12, 2026<\/p>\n Taylor Carnell performs at 1867 Bar for night two of Lincoln Exposed on Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026 in Lincoln.<\/p>\n Photo by Anthony Rubek<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Editor’s Pick Photo No. 14<\/p>\n March 12, 2026<\/p>\n Nebraska’s Asher Cohen competes in rings during the dual against Penn State at the Bob Devaney Sports Center on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026, in Lincoln.<\/p>\n Photo by Miah Iverson<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Editor’s Pick Photo No. 15<\/p>\n March 12, 2026<\/p>\n A woman discusses painting different portions of the mural with two younger children\u00a0at the Painting at Parrish art show at Parrish Studios on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in Lincoln.<\/p>\n Photo by Samuel Whittaker<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Editor’s Pick Photo No. 16<\/p>\n March 12, 2026<\/p>\n Nebraska’s Jacob Morgan (30) fist pumps teammates as he leads them out to the ice against Maryville on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026 at the Maryville University Hockey Center in Chesterfield.<\/p>\n Photo by Samuel Whittaker<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Editor’s Pick Photo No. 17<\/p>\n March 12, 2026<\/p>\n The Red Keys from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln perform in the ICCA quarterfinals at the Rococo Theatre on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026, in Lincoln.<\/p>\n Photo by Izzy Lewis<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Editor’s Pick Photo No. 18<\/p>\n March 12, 2026<\/p>\n Nebraska’s Nik Tarca competes in pommel horse during the dual against Penn State at the Bob Devaney Sports Center on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026, in Lincoln.<\/p>\n Photo by Miah Iverson<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Editor’s Pick Photo No. 19<\/p>\n March 12, 2026<\/p>\n Nebraska\u2019s Jessica Petrie (12) tries to take a layup during the first half of the game against Maryland at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026, in Lincoln.<\/p>\n Photo by Miah Iverson<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Editor’s Pick Photo No. 20<\/p>\n March 12, 2026<\/p>\n Nebraska’s Christopher Minto (4) wrestles with Northwestern’s Eddie Enright (30) at Bob Devaney Sports Center on Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026, in Lincoln.<\/p>\n Photo by Nathan Mccaffery<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Editor’s Pick Photo No. 21<\/p>\n March 12, 2026<\/p>\n Nebraska’s Sam Hoiberg (1) shoots the ball during the second half in the game against Illinois at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in Lincoln.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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