Democratic Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey rose to speak on the floor of the Senate Monday evening at 7 p.m. ET, and after more than 21 hours of railing against the policies of President Trump, he was still going.
Shortly before Booker announced his plan to deliver what could end up being the longest speech delivered in the U.S. Senate’s history, he posted a video on social media explaining his motivation.
“I’m about to go to the Senate floor, where I intend to be recognized, and when I am, I am not gonna stop speaking. I’m going to not stop standing. I’m going to go for as long as I am physically able to go,” Booker said. “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. 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.”
In his speech, the 55-year-old senator has singled out actions by the Trump administration to gut federal agencies, including the Social Security Administration, and he has read letters he’s received from his constituents
“I read letters from Social Security workers who now work in inadequate spaces with inadequate staff, unable to do their job that they love,” Booker said. “They’re not leeches. They’re not people who should be demeaned or degraded by the most powerful people in our land.”
Booker said he was delivering his address to draw attention to what the administration was doing.
“The threats to the American people and American democracy are grave and urgent, and we all must do more to stand against them,” he said.
Not technically a filibuster
While Booker’s speech could well make history as the longest in Senate history, at least in its first hours it is technically not a filibuster, which is a procedural tool that allows senators to delay or prevent the vote on a given bill.
“The Senate tradition of unlimited debate has allowed for the use of the filibuster, a loosely defined term for action designed to prolong debate and delay or prevent a vote on a bill, resolution, amendment, or other debatable question,” the Senate states on its website.
The longer Booker speaks, however, the more that line will be blurred because the Senate was scheduled to take up official business Tuesday and the speech could delay that.
Longest Senate speeches
The current record for the longest speech in Senate history belongs to Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, who filibustered the Civil Rights Act of 1957 for 24 hours and 18 minutes.
As of 4:19 p.m. ET, Booker had the second-longest Senate speech in history, going longer than 21 hours and 19 minutes (and counting).
The third-longest was Sen. Ted Cruz’s 2013 filibuster against the Affordable Care Act, which lasted for 21 hours and 19 minutes.
Both the Civil Rights Act and the Affordable Care Act were eventually passed.
Can a senator eat or take a restroom break during such a long speech?
Booker was joined overnight by Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, whose presence at the microphone allowed Booker to take short bathroom and food breaks. Other senators chipped in by asking Booker questions and praising his performance, the Associated Press reported.
