Sen. Cory Booker stepped onto the floor of the U.S. Senate around 7 p.m. Monday. As of Tuesday afternoon, he's still there and has promised to keep speaking for as long as he is "physically able to go."
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The Democratic lawmaker from New Jersey said the intention of his marathon speech was to disrupt usual Senate proceedings in protest over various Trump administration policies. He has likened his action to the "good trouble" that civil rights activist and former Sen. John Lewis preached during his lifetime.
"I've been hearing from people all over my state and indeed all over the nation calling upon folks in Congress to do more," Booker said in an video posted to his social media channels shortly before the speech began. "To do things that recognize the urgency, the crisis of the moment. And so we have a responsibility, I believe, to do something different."
Since he claimed the floor, Booker has criticized the Trump administration's cuts to the departments of education and veteran affairs, as well as its proposed tariffs. He has accused the president of violating "the fundamental principles" of the U.S. Constitution and coming after Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security programs. He has also railed against the federal government's crackdowns on immigrants, singling out the case of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia. He was deported to an El Salvador prison over an "administrative error," despite having protected legal status in America.
The senator has yielded to questions from his Democratic colleagues at various points, including Sens. Michael Bennett, Adam Schiff, Elizabeth Warren, Richard Blumenthal, Jacky Rosen and Tammy Duckworth. He has also read letters from concerned citizens.
Booker's speech is ongoing, but it'll need to continue into Tuesday night to break the Senate record for the longest speech. That mark belongs to former Sen. Strom Thurmond, who spoke against the Civil Rights Act in 1957 for 24 hours and 18 minutes.
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