Monday night, at 7 p.m. ET, Senator Cory Booker took to the Senate floor to speak out against the policies of the Trump administration. He didn’t stop talking until shortly after 8 p.m. Tuesday.
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Vowing to continue his speech for “as long as I’m physically able,” Booker captured national attention as he has railed against Trump on a number of topics, ranging from Social Security to healthcare to immigration.
On Tuesday evening, he entered the record books for the longest speech given on the floor. He captured millions of people’s attention as Congressional Democrats (and corporate America) have come under fire for not standing up to Trump.
Here’s what you need to know about the speech—and why it doesn’t qualify as a filibuster.
Monday evening, Booker posted on X that he had “taken the Senate floor and will speak for as long as I’m physically able to lift the voices of Americans who are being harmed and not being heard in this moment of crisis.”
Since beginning his floor speech, Booker discussed Trump’s plans for immigration, healthcare, Social Security, education, and more, accusing the White House (among other things) of planning to cut Medicaid and speaking out against a Trump-backed spending bill, which was passed in March.
“These are not normal times in America, and they should not be treated as such,” Booker said.
He also took Trump to task for some non-policy actions since taking over the Oval Office.
“When is it enough?” Booker asked. “When the president of the United States starts a memecoin on his first day, violating the emoluments clause immediately and enriching himself?”
According to Congressional rules, a filibuster can only take place when the Senate is attempting to pass a bill or confirm a nominee. That’s not the case now, making this just an incredibly long speech.
“I’ve been hearing from people all over my state, and indeed all over the nation, calling upon folks in Congress to do more, to do things that recognize the urgency, the crisis of the moment,” he said before beginning his speech. “And so we all have a responsibility, I believe, to do something different, to cause, as John Lewis said, good trouble—and that includes me.”
Booker’s speech exceeded the single-person record for filibustering held by Strom Thurmond, who spoke for 24 hours and 18 minutes to oppose the Civil Rights Act of 1957. (Thurmond had some help, too, as other Senators opposing that bill chained their filibusters, tying up the Senate floor for a grand total of 57 days.)
Booker’s speech also topped that of Senator Alfonse D’Amato of New York, who spoke for 23 hours and 30 minutes in 1986 to hold up debate on a military spending bill, and exceeded that of Senator Wayne Morse of Oregon, who talked for 22 hours and 26 minutes in 1953. Booker also spoke longer than Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, who held the floor for 21 hours and 19 minutes in 2013 as he spoke out against the Affordable Care Act.
Booker even matched the fictional filibuster length of Jefferson Smith’s 25-hour speech in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.
There are plenty of places to watch:
· CSPAN-2 carried the speech live on cable and satellite, as well as streaming it online.
· Booker streamed the speech on his social media sites, including X and TikTok.
· The speech was also streamed on YouTube by a number of news outlets, including USA Today, Fox, PBS, and CBS.
Booker spent a lot of time criticizing the Trump administration and Elon Musk’s role in it, but he has thrown in a bit of filler now and then, reading letters from citizens and quoting speeches and news articles.
He has also gotten a fair bit of support from fellow Democrats, who ask him to yield for a question, without yielding the floor, giving Booker a bit of a rest. And before accepting those questions, Booker has been having some fun, sometimes joking or telling stories about the Senator who’s asking the question.
And, from time to time, Booker has reminded himself (and people just tuning in) about the reasons for his speech.
“Twelve hours now I’m standing, and I’m still going strong because this president is wrong, and he’s violating principles we hold dear and principles in this document that are so clear and plain,” he said.
No. Booker was not seen eating anything during his speech and has only had two small cups of water within reach, neither of which has been emptied.
U.S. Senate rules don’t set time limits on debate. A Senator who has been recognized by the chair can speak for as long as they want, providing special limits on debate are not in effect.
Senators who hold the floor cannot be forced to stop talking (or even interrupted) without their consent. They do, however, have to remain standing and speaking consistently. (Booker had a Senate page remove his chair so he wouldn’t be tempted to sit down at any point.)
Senators can yield for a question without yielding control of the Senate floor, which Booker has been doing.
Booker’s main goal in this long address seems primarily to energize the Democratic base and show that their complaints to party leadership aren’t being ignored.
And the speech did raise Booker’s visibility in a big way, which could be useful should he decide to run for president again in 2028. (Booker ran briefly in 2020, but dropped out before the Iowa caucus.)
Update, April 1, 2025: This article has been updated as Booker’s speech continues.
This post originally appeared at fastcompany.com
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