Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) said as he began speaking on the Senate floor Monday night that he intended to disrupt “the normal business of the United States Senate for as long as I am physically able,” citing his belief that “our nation is in crisis.”
He wasn’t kidding.
Booker spoke through the night, and as of noon on Tuesday has been speaking for 17 continuous hours. He suspended his speech at noon for the Senate prayer.
“I’m rip-roaring and ready,” Booker said on Tuesday morning. “I’m wide awake. I’m going to stand here for as many hours as I can.” The New Jersey Democrat has been streaming his speech on his X account.
Booker has spent his time at the podium railing against the Trump administration’s cuts to the Social Security Administration, its assault on Medicaid and other social services, the president’s numerous dubiously legal executive orders, and more. He has taken questions from his Democratic colleagues, but has never yielded control of the floor.
The Associated Press notes that the record for the longest individual speech belongs to South Carolina Republican Strom Thurmond, who filibustered for 24 hours and 18 minutes against the Civil Rights Act of 1957. “You think we got civil rights one day because Strom Thurmond, after filibustering for 24 hours, you think we got civil rights because he came to the floor one day and said, ‘I’ve seen the light,’” Booker said at one point during his marathon speech. ”No, we got civil rights because people marched for it, sweat for it and John Lewis bled for it.”
Booker’s speech is not a filibuster, as it was not intended to delay a specific piece of legislation the chamber was debating. He is speaking solely to draw attention to Trump’s systematic dismantling of the federal government. Democrats — who are in the minority in both the Senate and the House of Representatives — have largely struggled to articulate a coherent opposition the first months of Trump’s second term in office.
Booker has reportedly only had a few sips of water to sustain him as he maintains the podium. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who spoke for 21 straight hours in 2013 in opposition of the Affordable Care Act, advised against this. “Wear comfortable shoes and don’t drink water,” he told CNN on Tuesday when asked if he had any advice for Booker, who is not allowed to use the restroom so long as he wants to keep control of the Senate floor.
