‘I rise … because I believe sincerely that our country is in crisis,’ lawmaker says
1 of 3 | Sen. Cory Booker (seen Sept. 2024 outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.), D-N.J., took to the Senate floor on Monday at 7 p.m. local time saying he intended to disrupt “the normal business of the United States Senate for as long as I am physically able,” before breaking the record for the longest Senate speech ever at more than 24 hours. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
Sen. Cory Booker’s Senate floor speech against the Trump administration broke Sen. Strom Thurmond’s nearly seven-decade record Tuesday night, with the Democrat from New Jersey’s filibuster crossing the 24-hour mark to become the longest Senate floor speech ever.
Booker, 55, began speaking Monday at 7 p.m. EDT. He was still speaking close to 8 p.m. Tuesday. Booker said he would continue to speak to disrupt “the normal business of the United States Senate for as long as I am physically able.” Advertisement
“I rise tonight because I believe sincerely that our country is in crisis,” he began Monday.
“Twelve hours now I’m standing, and I’m still going strong because this president is wrong, and he’s violating principles that we hold dear and principles in this document that are so clear and plain,” Booker, holding a copy of the U.S. Constitution, said around 7 a.m. EDT on Tuesday. Advertisement
More than 24 hours after he started speaking, Booker continued to argue Tuesday night for “checks and balances” on the current administration.
“The Senate and the House should be checks and balances on the President of the United States,” Booker said, still sounding energetic. “We’re letting him do things that Republicans and Democrats should say together are wrong.”
Throughout his marathon speech, Booker targeted the policies of President Donald Trump and White House adviser Elon Musk, saying they show a “complete disregard for the rule of law, the Constitution, and the needs of the American people.”
“In just 71 days, the president has inflicted harm after harm on Americans’ safety, financial stability, the foundations of our democracy, and any sense of common decency,” he continued.
The longest filibuster on record was 24 hours and 18 minutes in 1957 by then-Democratic Sen. Strom Thurmond, later a Republican, of South Carolina in opposition to the Civil Rights Act. What Booker took on did not start as a filibuster, which targets legislation or other official acts. But more than 24 hours later, at 7:18 p.m., Booker’s speech became the longest ever recorded. Booker also passed the 21 hour, 19 minute record held by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, in 2013 in his futile fight to defund the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as “Obamacare.” Advertisement
During his marathon speech, Booker touched on topics from healthcare, Social Security to immigration, the economy, public education, free speech and foreign-policy issues, and he read letters from constituents.
The Senate was scheduled to convene at noon and was slated to have a confirmation vote on Matthew Whitaker, a former DOJ official during Trump’s first administration, to be U.S. ambassador to NATO.
Booker took a short break at about 12:40 p.m. EDT to yield for a question from Sen. Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., one of a slew of other Senate colleagues to do the same.
“I shall not complain,” Booker said around 12:53 p.m when Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., asked how he was doing nearly 17 hours in.
On Tuesday morning, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., thanked Booker “for his fortitude, his strength and the crystalline brilliance with which he has shown the American people the huge dangers that face them with this Trump-DOGE-Musk administration.”
“We have proven that child poverty is a policy choice, not an inevitable reality,” Booker later said during a back-and-forth with a colleague.
“Giving tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans, I’m sorry, is wasteful spending,” he added around 1:45 p.m. referencing Trump’s previously proposed tax cuts, adding “we should have a tax policy that reflects our values.” Advertisement
