Missouri Senate Democrats spent roughly two hours on Thursday filibustering the first batch of gubernatorial appointments brought before the Senate.
It marks the first time Senate Democrats have pushed back on Republicans this session since the rough endings of the 2025 session and the second of two special sessions. The 2026 session began Jan. 7.
Senate President Pro Tem Cindy O'Laughlin, R-Shelbina, ended up withdrawing the list of appointments to various boards and commissions, for now.
Sen. Steve Roberts, D-St. Louis, was one of the senators who spoke during the filibuster on the floor Thursday morning into the afternoon.
He said the purpose of Thursday's actions was to say: "We're not going to just have a rubber stamp Senate."
"I think that it's vitally important that we do a thorough job and just make sure that we just aren't signing off on people without digging into it," Roberts said.
On whether this action was a response to Republicans' actions last year, Roberts said it's all related.
"Absolutely, and that just further emphasizes the point that we need to make sure we're not just rubber stamping these nominees, these reappointments," Roberts said.
One set of appointments that will eventually turn up in the Senate are the commissioners of the board overseeing the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.
Roberts said in December that when commissioners participated in a town hall he thought they conducted themselves well.
"But again, we're still vetting them. We've scheduled meetings with several of the aldermen in the city of St. Louis, so we're just waiting to get some more information and continue to vet them," Roberts said.
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