Democratic Sen. Cory Booker just set a new record for the longest speech in Senate history, breaking the mark set by Sen. Strom Thurmond, a South Carolina segregationist, who in 1957 spoke for 24 hours and 18 minutes to filibuster a civil rights bill.
Booker broke the record at 7:19 p.m., and the moment was met with a round of loud applause from the gallery. He yielded the floor at 8:05 p.m. to another round of applause.
Booker held the Senate floor for 25 hours and 5 minutes to protest President Donald Trump’s agenda, including potential cuts to Medicaid and other healthcare issues as well as cuts to Social Security offices, proposed tax cuts and changes to immigration, education and foreign policy. “Are you better off than you were 72 days ago under this president’s leadership, on the verge of his so-called ‘Liberation Day’ that’s going to drive prices up even more?” Booker asked this afternoon.
He began his marathon speech on the Senate floor on Monday night by explaining that he was disrupting the Senate’s normal business because he believes that the country is in crisis. “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.
Today he added: “This is not a partisan moment. It is a moral moment. Where do you stand?”
By Tuesday evening, some 22 hours into his remarks, Booker admitted he was tiring. “I don’t have that much gas in the tank,” he admitted at 5 p.m. before allowing a question from Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin. He paused repeatedly throughout his speech to take questions from fellow Democrats while making clear he was not yielding the floor.
Booker’s speech was technically not a filibuster because it is not blocking debate over a specific bill or nominee. But the speech did delay until Wednesday a planned vote on a Democratic effort led by Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia to undo Trump’s tariffs on Canada. Kaine told reporters he backed Booker’s effort.
Speaker Mike Johnson suffers a defeat: Over in the House, meanwhile, nine Republicans joined with Democrats to hand Speaker Mike Johnson an extraordinary defeat in his aggressive effort to block proxy voting for lawmakers who are parents of newborns.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, a Republican who has led the push for proxy voting, forced the issue by collecting 218 signatures on a discharge petition requiring the House to consider her measure.
Johnson and Republican leaders have vehemently opposed proxy voting, arguing it is unconstitutional, and they went to unprecedented lengths to try to prevent a vote on the issue. After his effort was thwarted Tuesday, Johnson canceled votes for the rest of the week.
“Under House rules, Republican leaders are required to bring the proxy voting resolution to a vote within two legislative days,” The New York Times notes. “But they appeared to be refusing to do anything else until the holdouts in their party cave, which they have shown no sign of doing. As Republicans left Washington for the week having passed no bills, it was not clear how or when the issue would be resolved.”
Johnson and GOP leaders are reportedly looking to ratchet up their fight next week and add to the pressure on Republican members by forcing lawmakers to choose between proxy voting and the budget plan needed to pass Trump’s legislative agenda.