“Senator Coburn is the just the latest face of what appears to be an intentional effort by Republicans to deny justice to black farmers and Native American trust account-holders. Their opposition is a transparent sham,” Manley said. “Every time we are close to a bipartisan agreement that would disburse court-approved settlements to these Americans who were denied earnings they deserve due to discrimination and mismanagement, Republicans yank the rug from under them by conjuring up a new reason to object.

The statement, which stopped short of calling Republicans racist, painted the GOP with a very broad brush considering Democratic aides said that both parties were extremely close to an agreement and believed as recently as Wednesday morning that the Senate would pass the measure later in the evening. An aide added that Coburn pulled his support at the “11th hour,” implying that other Republicans had been on board before the Oklahoma senator had announced his intent to object to Reid.