Senator Cory Booker took a stand on Monday night—literally. The New Jersey Democrat stepped onto the Senate floor at 7 p.m., vowing to speak “for as long as I am physically able.”
And he meant it. Hour after hour, Booker kept going—papers in hand, voice unwavering—until the sun rose on Tuesday morning. By 11 a.m., his marathon speech had stretched past 16 hours, with over 40,000 people tuned in on YouTube, watching in real-time.
His goal? To call out what he says is the “crisis of the moment” brought on by the Trump administration’s policies and demand that lawmakers take action.
“We all have a responsibility to do something different, to cause—like [the late Rep.] John Lewis said—’good trouble,’ and that includes me,” Booker said in a video shared on X before he started the speech.
“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,” Booker said in his opening remarks.
Throughout the night, he took direct aim at Donald Trump, Elon Musk and policies he says show a “complete disregard for the rule of law, the Constitution, and the needs of the American people.” He covered everything—from healthcare and Social Security to immigration, public education and free speech—reading letters from everyday Americans who say they’re feeling the impact of Trump-backed policies.
“These are not normal times in our nation. And they should not be treated as such in the United States Senate,” Booker declared in his opening remarks.
While Trump and Musk haven’t responded to the speech, Booker’s marathon moment comes at a tense time for Democrats. Just last month, nine Democrats sided with Republicans to pass a Trump-backed spending bill, avoiding a government shutdown but frustrating voters who wanted their lawmakers to take a harder stance against the administration.
So, what was Booker actually doing?
This wasn’t a filibuster. Filibusters are used to block legislation, but Booker wasn’t trying to stop a specific bill. Instead, he was using the power of the Senate floor to make sure the urgency of this political moment couldn’t be ignored. Under Senate rules, if a senator has the floor, they can keep talking for as long as they can physically stand and speak.
And Booker? He made sure to stay standing—literally. He even had a Senate page take his chair away at one point so he wouldn’t be tempted to sit down.
To give himself a little break, Booker allowed fellow Democrats to ask questions—one of the only ways a senator could yield the floor without losing it.
By Tuesday morning, Booker had spoken for 16 hours and counting—but he was has broken the record for the longest speech in Senate history. In 2013, Ted Cruz talked for 21 hours and 19 minutes trying (and failing) to defund Obamacare. But, the longest speech in Senate history? That wa Strom Thurmond’s infamous 24-hour, 18-minute filibuster in 1957—which he used to oppose the Civil Rights Act.
That’s right—the longest Senate speech on record was an attempt to block Black folks from getting equal rights.
But Booker’s moment was about something different. It was a reminder—a call to action—that these are not normal times, and Democrats can’t afford to sit down.
So he stood. And he spoke. And he’s making sure we’re all paying attention.
