Sen. Patrick Leahy, a Democrat from Vermont, said the Senate and its Judiciary Committee are no longer the "independent branch of government" they're supposed to be.
Instead, it's "an arm — and a very weak arm — of the Trump White House," he said.
Here's how he opened his statement to the committee today:
"It feels like 'Alice in Wonderland' around here. It's unbelievable where we are today. It's almost surreal. This Judiciary Committee is no longer an independent branch of government. And we're supposed to be. The Senate is supposed to be an independent, equal branch of government. We're no longer that. We are an arm — and a very weak arm — of the Trump White House. Every semblance of independence has just disappeared. It's gone. And I think that is something historians will look at, and they'll call it a turning point in the United States Senate."
Watch the moment: