Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) defended Republican colleagues Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Josh Hawley (R-MO) on Tuesday over their objections to the Electoral College vote on January 6, saying they were exercising their “freedom” as Senators.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported:

The California Democrat was asked Tuesday about Republicans who objected to the Electoral College results that Congress certified early Jan. 7, after a pro-Trump insurrection that resulted in five deaths had been cleared from the Capitol. Republican Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Josh Hawley of Missouri led the objections to President-elect Joe Biden’s victory even after members of Congress were forced to hide from the rioters, and have faced calls for censure or punishment as a result.

Feinstein, however, defended their right to object, calling Senate debate the “highest-level dialogue” in democracy.

“I think the Senate is a place of freedom,” Feinstein told reporters at the Capitol. “And people come here to speak their piece, and they do, and they provide a kind of leadership. In some cases, it’s positive, in some cases, maybe not. A lot of that depends on who’s looking and what party they are. But it’s an important place to have this kind of dialogue. It’s probably the highest-level dialogue that you get in an electoral body.”

Other Democrats, including “moderate” Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), have said they would consider having Cruz and Hawley expelled from the Senate.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) — who will soon take over as Majority Leader — recently pushed Feinstein out of her leadership position on the Senate Judiciary Committee after she was perceived as having been too civil toward Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett and toward Republican colleagues on the committee.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). His newest e-book is How Not to Be a Sh!thole Country: Lessons from South Africa. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.