US Senator Cory Booker sets record with 24-hour speech against Trump’s policies

Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - US Senator Cory Booker speaks to the press at the US Capitol in Washington on April 1. — AFP pic

WASHINGTON, April 2 — A Democratic US lawmaker shattered a record for the longest speech in Senate history with a fiery protest against President Donald Trump’s “unconstitutional” actions, beginning late Monday—and still going yesterday, more than 24 hours later.

Senator Cory Booker’s display of endurance—to hold the floor he must remain standing and cannot even go to the bathroom—recalled the famous scene in Frank Capra’s 1939 film classic “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.”

The longest Senate speech on record before Tuesday was delivered by South Carolina’s Strom Thurmond, who filibustered for 24 hours and 18 minutes against the Civil Rights Act of 1957.

Booker, only the fourth Black senator to be popularly elected to the body, blew past that deadline Tuesday, his voice still strong.

“We are in this moral moment now,” he said.

“This is not right or left. Don’t let them say this is a partisanship. It is not. It is not left or right. It is right or wrong. America, this is a moral moment. Does the Constitution live in your heart?”

The 55-year-old New Jersey native also found a moment for some humor, joking: “I want to go a little bit past this and then I’m going to deal with some of the biological urgencies I’m feeling.”

Although Booker’s talk-a-thon was not actually blocking the majority Republican Party from holding votes in the Senate, as would be the case in a true filibuster, his defiance quickly became a rallying point for beleaguered Democrats.

Booker, a former presidential candidate, seized command in the chamber at 7:00 pm (2300 GMT) Monday and was still speaking well into Tuesday evening.

He lashed out at Trump’s radical cost-cutting policies that have seen his top advisor Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, slash entire government programs without consent from Congress.

The senator said Trump’s aggressive seizing of ever-more executive power had put US democracy at risk.

“Unnecessary hardships are being borne by Americans of all backgrounds. And institutions which are special in America, which are precious and which are unique in our country, are being recklessly—and I would say even unconstitutionally—affected, attacked, even shattered,” Booker said.

“In just 71 days the president of the United States has inflicted so much harm on Americans’ safety, financial stability, the core foundations of our democracy,” he said.

Democrats struggle

Democratic lawmakers, in the minority in both the Senate and House of Representatives, have struggled over how to blunt Trump’s efforts to downsize government, ramp up deportations and shred much of the country’s political norms.

“I just want to thank you for holding vigil for this country all night,” Senator Raphael Warnock told Booker on the floor.

Booker dedicated much of his speech to criticizing Trump’s policies, but to pass the time he also recited poetry, discussed sports and entertained questions from colleagues.

“If you love your neighbor, if you love this country, show your love. Stop them from doing what they’re trying to (do),” he said.

Because Booker’s obstruction did not occur during voting on any bill it was not technically a filibuster. But this marks the first time during Trump’s term that Democrats have deliberately gummed up Senate business.

“Next vote: TBA,” or to be announced, the Senate Press Gallery posted on X early Tuesday. — AFP