Cory Booker wrote himself into the Senate annals Tuesday, setting a new record for the chamber’s longest speech when he held the floor for more than 25 hours and surpassed the late Sen. Strom Thurmond’s 1957 filibuster against civil rights.
The New Jersey Democrat took the floor at 6:59 p.m. on Monday, stating that he was doing so “intentionally disrupting the normal business of the United States Senate for as long as I am physically able” to protest President Donald Trump and his administration’s actions.
At 7:18 p.m. Tuesday, he surpassed Thurmond’s 1957 speech, which lasted 24 hours and 18 minutes, according to the Senate historian. Booker gave up the floor at 8:05 p.m., adding 48 minutes to the record.
“Maybe my ego got caught up that maybe, maybe, just maybe, I could break this record of the man who tried to stop the rights upon which I stand,” according to Booker. “I’m not here, though, because of his speech; I’m here despite his speech.”
Booker made no indication before beginning his marathon speech that he intended to set a new record. He expressed hope that he would be able to hold the floor for as long as he did in 2016, when he and Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) debated gun violence for about 15 hours.
But as Tuesday progressed and Booker showed no signs of slowing down, his colleagues began openly discussing whether Thurmond’s 67-year-old record could fall.
“We hope and believe that he will break the record. “He’s close now,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters Tuesday afternoon.
Booker, who was sworn into the Senate in 2013, was joined on the floor at various points during his speech by dozens of his Democratic colleagues, who engaged in extended colloquies with him, allowing Booker to rest his voice while maintaining control of the floor. He did not leave the Senate Chamber.
Murphy joined Booker on the floor Tuesday evening as he closed in on Thurmond’s record, emphasizing the differences between Booker’s speech and the South Carolina segregationist’s.
“What you have done here today, Senator Booker, couldn’t be more different than what occurred on this floor in 1957,” Murphy said, referring to Thurmond’s unsuccessful attempt to block an early piece of US civil rights legislation. Booker is one of five Black senators currently serving.
Schumer also praised Booker when he briefly joined him on the Senate floor Tuesday, saying, “Your strength, fortitude, and clarity has been nothing short of amazing.”
Tens of thousands of people watched Booker on social media at various points, implying that he was able to channel some of the frustration Democrats felt in the aftermath of the GOP’s electoral victories last year — as well as the tumultuous first months of Trump’s second term.
“All of America is paying attention to what you’re saying,” added Schumer, who faced fierce criticism within his party for moving forward with a GOP funding bill last month. “The disastrous actions of this administration — in terms of how they’re helping only the billionaires and hurting average families — you have brought that forth with such clarity.”
Booker, a former Newark mayor, has long sought a larger role in national Democratic politics. He launched a presidential campaign in 2019 but failed to gain traction, withdrawing weeks before the Iowa caucuses.
He is a junior member of the Senate Democratic leadership, serving as strategic communications chair, and his colleagues regard him as someone who could easily rise through the ranks if he so desired.
Along with Schumer and Murphy, Booker was joined on the floor by Senators Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, and Dick Durbin of Illinois, among others.
House Democrats, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and members of the Congressional Black Caucus, were spotted entering the Senate chamber to watch portions of Booker’s speech.
Booker began the speech with two glasses of water on his desk, which he occasionally sipped from, and a thick binder of notes, which he consulted intermittently. Shortly after establishing the record, he joked that he needed to stop talking and “go deal with some of the biological urgencies I’m feeling.”
He told reporters after leaving the stage that he had concentrated on becoming dehydrated in the days leading up to his speech to avoid having to use the restroom. He said he stopped eating on Friday and stopped drinking on Sunday night.
“I fasted for several days. “I think that had both good and bad effects,” Booker reflected. “I definitely started cramping up from lack of water.”
During his speech, Booker discussed a variety of Trump administration policies and GOP legislative plans, including Trump’s tariff plans, Elon Musk’s effort to reduce the federal bureaucracy, and potential Medicaid cuts embedded in a House GOP budget proposal.
“The vote to pass this dangerous blueprint did not come easily and we will make sure that lawmakers know that enacting these cuts would be to abandon older Americans,” he added, referring to Medicaid.
Booker also discussed Trump’s foreign policy moves, such as his warmer tone toward Russian President Vladimir Putin and criticism of NATO, and cited Republican senators’ support for the transatlantic alliance.
After Booker left the floor, the Senate proceeded to vote on Matthew Whitaker’s confirmation as US ambassador to NATO. Booker’s speech postponed that vote, as well as an anticipated vote on a Democratic effort to block some of Trump’s proposed tariffs.
