Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., took the Senate floor at 7 p.m. EDT Monday night to attack President Donald Trump’s policies and promised to stand and talk “as long as I am physically able” as a way to “recognize the urgency” of the moment—and the senator was still speaking 19 hours later as of 2 p.m. EDT Tuesday afternoon.
In this image provided by Senate Television, Sen, Cory Booker, D-N.J. speaks on the Senate floor, ... More
Booker said on social media he aimed “to lift the voices of Americans who are being harmed and not being heard in this moment of crisis.”
His speech—which reportedly stands at the sixth-longest in Senate history—Booker criticized the Trump administration for “putting profits over people,” “trying to gut Medicaid and Medicare,” threatening changes to social security, dismantling the Education Department, accidentally deporting a Maryland resident and more.
Booker has yielded to questions from other Democrats to get a break from speaking, but has not given up the floor and remained standing to comply with Senate rules, the Associated Press reported.
Get Forbes Breaking News Text Alerts: We’re launching text message alerts so you'll always know the biggest stories shaping the day’s headlines. Text “Alerts” to (201) 335-0739 or sign up here.
“I rise with the intention of getting in some good trouble”—a reference to the expression used by civil rights leader and politician Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga.—“I rise with the intention of disrupting the normal business of the United States Senate for as long as I am physically able,” Booker said Monday night. “I rise tonight because I believe sincerely that our country is in crisis.”
Technically, no. According to the Senate, filibuster is a “loosely defined term for action designed to prolong debate and delay or prevent a vote on a bill, resolution, amendment, or other debatable question.” No legislation or nomination is actually being blocked.
Booker took the floor at 7 p.m. EDT Monday night and was still talking 19 hours later at 2 p.m. EDT.
Sen. Strom Thurmond, a lawmaker from South Carolina who was a Democrat before switching parties, holds the record for the longest speech from an individual on the Senate floor. In 1957, he spoke for 24 hours and 18 minutes to protest the Civil Rights Act of 1957. There have been longer speeches and all-night sessions throughout the Senate’s history, but many have included multiple lawmakers.
Booker was first elected as a senator in 2013 as part of a special election, and prior to that he served as mayor of Newark, New Jersey. He had an unsuccessful run for president in 2020 and dropped out of the race after he failed to meet the requirements for a debate in January 2020. Booker, 55, is a former Stanford University football player, which one of his colleagues, Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., credited for his ability to hold the floor for so many hours.
52,711. That’s how many people were watching Booker’s livestreamed speech on YouTube as he hit the 19-hour mark at 2 p.m. EDT Tuesday. The Senator’s X page showed there have been more than 374,000 views on his livestream as of 2 p.m. EDT, as well.
New Jersey Sen. Booker presses his marathon speech against Trump's agenda past 18 hours and counting (Associated Press)
Cory Booker's marathon speech ranks among the Senate's longest (Axios)