In this image provided by Senate Television, Sen, Cory Booker, D-N.J. speaks on the Senate floor, Tuesday morning, April 1, 2025.
Senate Television | AP
WASHINGTON — Sen. Cory Booker set the record for the longest speech in Senate history Tuesday night in marathon remarks that began Monday evening and tore into what he called the Trump administration’s “grave and urgent” threat to the country.
Booker, a New Jersey Democrat, surpassed the previous record of 24 hours and 18 minutes set in 1957 by Sen. Strom Thurmond. And he’s still going.
His remarks went viral — the live feed of the speech on Booker’s TikTok account had more than 220 million likes by early Tuesday night, and users were posting fan edits.
“Twelve hours now I’m standing, and I’m still going strong because this president is wrong, and he’s violating principles that we hold dear and principles in this document that are so clear and plain,” Booker said around 7 a.m., holding up a copy of the Constitution.
Twenty-two hours in, he acknowledged he was lagging. “I don’t have much gas left in the tank,” he said around 5 p.m., before continuing.
“More Americans need to stand up and say enough is enough,” he said.
Democratic lawmakers have been facing pressure from their constituents to respond more forcefully to the Trump administration’s sweeping policy changes, including massive cuts to the federal workforce, ramped-up deportations and sweeping tariffs.
He got a brief break at noon, when the Senate chaplain led a daily prayer. Chaplain Barry Black’s prayer mentioned the floor aides and police officers who stayed up all night to accommodate the speech.
“We are grateful for the efforts of the floor staff, the Capitol Police, the stenographers, the pages and all those who have worked through the night. We pray you give them the strength they need for this day today,” Black said.
Booker then resumed speaking.
He took the floor at 7 p.m. Monday, announcing that he intended to disrupt “the normal business of the United States Senate for as long as I am physically able.”
“I rise tonight because I believe sincerely that our country is in crisis,” Booker said.
In the hours that followed, he painted his speech as a warning over the “grave and urgent” threat Americans faced from the Trump administration, arguing that “bedrock commitments” to the country “are being broken.”
“Unnecessary hardships are being borne by Americans of all backgrounds, and institutions which are special in America, which are precious, which are unique in our country, are being recklessly — and I would say even unconstitutionally — affected, attacked and even shattered,” he said.
In this image provided by Senate Television, Sen, Cory Booker, D-N.J. speaks on the Senate floor, Tuesday morning, April 1, 2025.
Senate Television | AP
Asked for comment, a White House spokesperson mocked Booker with a reference to his failed 2020 presidential campaign.
“Cory Booker is looking for another ‘I am Spartacus’ moment, but that didn’t work for his failed presidential campaign, and it didn’t work to block President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh. When will he realize he’s not Spartacus — he’s a spoof?” the spokesperson, Harrison Fields, said in a statement.
Booker remained standing and did not leave the floor for a bathroom break during his entire speech because he would have lost control of the Senate floor if he left his desk or sat down. He was joined at times by other Democratic senators who chimed in to speak and ask questions while Booker retained control of the floor — giving his voice a rest.
The lawmakers highlighted their own criticisms of the Trump administration, laying out the impact of President Donald Trump’s first few months in office and asking Booker for his perspective.
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., was with Booker throughout his overnight marathon speech and spoke admiringly of his performance — and endurance — as it headed into hour 23.
“It’s really hard to get your body past hour 22 and 23,” Murphy said, “I just don’t think he’s going to stop until he has to stop.”
Murphy said that they’d both been eating “a little bit” and that Booker has pain medicine in his desk drawer in case he needs it. He also said they’ve avoided drinking water — although Booker had been seen taking sips from the two water glasses on his desk several times.
Asked whether Booker was wearing a diaper or a catheter, Murphy laughed and said he wasn’t the person to ask.
This is Booker’s first time leading a marathon speech, though he joined Murphy for his nearly 15-hour filibuster to advocate for gun control in 2016.
As of early Tuesday, Booker’s speech hadn’t disrupted Senate consideration of any Trump nominees. But depending on how long he goes, his remarks could affect Senate business, including a planned vote Tuesday night related to Matthew Whitaker’s nomination to be U.S. ambassador to NATO.
A vote to eliminate tariffs on Canadian imports that was previously expected for Tuesday is now likely to happen Wednesday because of Booker’s speech.
During his remarks, Booker shared letters from constituents and read news articles. He spoke about Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., the civil rights icon who died in 2020, calling him “one of my greatest heroes of life.”
“I start tonight thinking about him; I’ve been thinking about him a lot during these last 71 days. ‘Get in good trouble, necessary trouble, help redeem the soul of America,'” Booker said, invoking Lewis’ words. “And had to ask myself, if he’s my hero, how am I living up to his words?”
Booker added that he was delivering the speech “with the intention of getting in some ‘good trouble.'”
NAACP President Derrick Johnson praised Booker’s efforts in a statement.
“The darkest times call on all of us to be courageous, and that is what Cory Booker is doing,” Johnson said.
“To all elected officials in Congress: The constitution provides you with tools to remove Donald Trump or at the very least slow him down,” he added. “Use those tools before it is too late.”
Long speeches have put the national spotlight on other senators. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, spoke for nearly 21 hours and 19 minutes to oppose the Affordable Care Act in 2013. In 2010, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., delivered an 8 1/2-hour speech that is often credited with raising his political profile.
As of about 5:30 p.m., Booker’s speech became the second longest in Senate history when he passed the 22 hour, 26 minute mark set in 1953 by Sen. Wayne Morse, a Democrat from Oregon.
Thurmond, a South Carolina segregationist, set the record when he spoke in opposition to the Civil Rights Act of 1957. He was a Democrat at the time but changed his party affiliation to Republican in 1964.
An NPR fact check on Thurmond’s filibuster from 2013 found that he left to use the bathroom during hour 3 of his speech — something Booker was not able to do.
