Summary:

Sen. Cory Booker is holding the Senate floor into Tuesday afternoon, as the New Jersey Democrat continues his marathon speech protesting actions taken by President Donald Trump’s administration.

The Democratic senator vowed Monday evening that he would keep going as long as he was “physically able,” continuing his remarks through the night. As of noon Tuesday, he had spoken for more than 17 hours, having begun at 7 p.m. ET Monday.

Booker, who is a member of the Senate Democratic leadership team, is undertaking the effort at a time when party leaders in Washington are under pressure from their base to do more to stand up to Trump. He has castigated Trump’s efforts with Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency to overhaul the federal government, while speaking on a number of topics, including Social Security, Medicaid and immigration.

“I rise with the intention of disrupting the normal business of the United States Senate for as long as I am physically able,” Booker said at the outset of his remarks. “I rise tonight because I believe sincerely that our country is in crisis.”

“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,” Booker said. “These are not normal times in America. And they should not be treated as such in the United States Senate.”

Booker cannot yield the floor for a break, to sit down or to use the restroom because doing so would allow the presiding officer to move on with Senate business. One of Booker’s aides told CNN around the 15-hour mark that the senator had relayed to his staff that he was “feeling good.”

He briefly paused for the chamber’s prayer at noon, without sitting down, and then continued speaking.

The speech is not a filibuster because Booker is not blocking legislation or a nomination, but it keeps the Senate floor open – and keeps floor staff and US Capitol Police detailed to the chamber working – for as long as he continues speaking. Lawmakers had concluded voting on Monday before he began his remarks.

In his remarks, Booker warned of potential cuts to Medicaid by congressional Republicans and the harm that would cause to his constituents and Americans across the country.

  • 18-24-61-B-17-17-4@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    1 month ago

    So he’s gotta be wearing a diaper, right? I’m not asking that in a shit talking kinda way either, pure logistics. Either that or going full trucker mode and using a Gatorade bottle.

  • LandedGentry@lemmy.zipEnglish
    0·
    1 month ago

    And yet I can’t stop seeing people calling this performative.

    Have any of you shut down congress for a full day?

    • atempuser23@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0·
      1 month ago

      Because of this part

      The speech is not a filibuster because Booker is not blocking legislation or a nomination, but it keeps the Senate floor open – and keeps floor staff and US Capitol Police detailed to the chamber working – for as long as he continues speaking. Lawmakers had concluded voting on Monday before he began his remarks.

      It’s symbolic because he’s not doing it when it actually delays something. His action is not holding or delaying any efforts of the Republicans. It’s still a viable form of protest.

      • Triasha@lemmy.world
        0·
        1 month ago

        The Senate is not sitting around with a bunch of time on their hands. If nothing gets done for a day a day of something is getting pushed back.

      • LandedGentry@lemmy.zipEnglish
        0·
        1 month ago

        Yet here we are talking about it and he’s on every media outlet’s front page Laying out point by point what is wrong with the current trumpet administration for everyone to read and hear.

        What would you have him do differently?

        • LeninOnAPrayer@lemm.eeEnglish
          0·
          1 month ago

          And not a single person listening needed to hear “what’s wrong”. Libs can’t just keep saying “look at how bad this is” and actually point to what their plan is to do something about it.

          There is not a single person paying attention to this that had their mind changed on the topic of Trump or Elon. Seriously. We are exhausted with hearing libs tell us “these guys sure are bad” huh.

        • SoftestSapphic@lemmy.world
          0·
          1 month ago

          Why wouldn’t he wait to do this to block legislation?

          Why do it when nothing was going to happen anyway?

          I think that’s what I would do differently.

        • atempuser23@lemmy.worldEnglish
          0·
          1 month ago

          What he is doing is good, but the republicans can be home warm in bed completely unaffected. They will wake wide eyed and bushy tailed to destroy our rights in the morning. He could have picked a point when legislation was being passed and done this in a way that actually slowed down something that shouldn’t be. It’s a much more impressive version of Chuck Schumer’s strongly worded letters.

          Unless he is going to make this a habit and do this again and again making it absolute pain for the republicans to vote our rights away it’s a grand gesture and not much more.

              • NovaOG@lemm.eeEnglish
                0·
                1 month ago

                It’s hair pulling watching Dems not get it over and over and over and over and over and over and over…

                • SoftestSapphic@lemmy.world
                  0·
                  1 month ago

                  If you want to stop someone from doing something you have to take actions that make that change happen in material reality.

                  It’s insane that neoliberals think words and signs can beat fascism.

                  Form a line blocking the legislature, fucking start a brawl, anything besides standing and watching and saying “oh no please don’t end democracy :c”

        • technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com
          0·
          1 month ago

          I would have dude oppose genocide. I would have him do something meaningful instead of this performance. Nothing will come of this.

    • DarthDax@lemm.ee
      0·
      1 month ago

      I agree, but I would argue that it seems performative since he waited after votes on Monday to start his monologue. Perhaps the items being voted on were important though /shrug

        • bishbosh@lemm.eeEnglish
          0·
          1 month ago

          I am open to being convinced it was more than performative, mind sharing the context that makes it more than a show, and instead that it is tangible effects on the fascist machinery of the current state?

    • LeninOnAPrayer@lemm.eeEnglish
      0·
      1 month ago

      On the floor filibusters like this are THE definition of performative. Especially when it’s not meant to delay to do something like whip votes. Which this isn’t even doing.

      Also, I’m pretty sure I could shup down Congress for a day with a convincing enough phone call.

        • LeninOnAPrayer@lemm.eeEnglish
          0·
          1 month ago

          /woosh I guess. Resistance to fascism can be called a “felony” too. They called Nelson Mendela, Malcom X, and MLK terrorist too. Maybe take some context for the people that control those definitions of what a “felony” or a “terrorist” are today. Because if you’re gonna keep listening to the definitions they use today then you would be better deciding first which side you’re on.

      • KillingTimeItself@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
        0·
        1 month ago

        Also, I’m pretty sure I could shup down Congress for a day with a convincing enough phone call.

        just to be clear, this is what we call terrorism.

          • KillingTimeItself@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
            0·
            1 month ago

            well i have a scientific proposal for you. Find a white person, and pay them to do a terrorism. Tell me what happens after you get arrested and charged with terrorism.

            (to be clear, i am not advocating for terrorism this is satire.)

            • LeninOnAPrayer@lemm.eeEnglish
              0·
              1 month ago

              Not sure if this comment is satire in the way I think or if you really are missing the point that the definition of “terrorism” is a flexible definition that western countries use to classify groups that (morally or not) resist US Imperialism.

              Either way. You’re close to understanding “Blowback” to US Imperialism and I can respect that.

    • zaperberry@lemmy.caEnglish
      0·
      1 month ago

      What do you not understand?

      Do you not understand what the words mean? Do you not understand the purpose? Do you not understand the context? I don’t understand what you don’t understand.

      If you’re going to rail on about how people need to do more to educate others instead of telling you to do some basic reading then you can at the very least put some effort into your inquiry.

        • zaperberry@lemmy.caEnglish
          0·
          1 month ago

          I think you need to watch a video where someone breaks down how to ask a question.

            • zaperberry@lemmy.caEnglish
              0·
              1 month ago

              Based on your other responses I assume that the subtext here is that this didn’t actually achieve anything other than allowing for a democrat to hold the floor and talk for over a day? It’s performative and all it achieves is online discourse vs. what you’d consider to be action? Did I get that right? Maybe I’m wrong, but I’m not a mind reader and you haven’t been very direct, so that’s my interpretation.

              How about you just say what you mean? Hiding behind these sorts of bad faith engagements is childish snowflake behaviour.

              • Melvin_Ferd@lemmy.world
                0·
                1 month ago

                Actually, I really appreciate you putting that together. Yes, it captures a big part of what I’ve been trying to say.

                Maybe it is bad faith, but I also think that speaking directly, especially online, is genuinely hard. Still, one of my biggest frustrations is how difficult it is to spread and sustain important ideas and perspectives.

                What really gets me is seeing people pour so much energy into a single protest driving for hours, standing in the rain, even getting arrested but then showing almost no interest in doing something like consistently sharing content online, which is easier and arguably more effective in the long run. That disconnect baffles me. Like posting and commenting on an issue for 24 hrs isn’t enough

                And on top of that, there’s a real failure to support strong figureheads or voices who are actually good at communicating the message. These people burn out or get drowned out because there’s no consistent effort to lift them up. It’s like the momentum gets lost the moment the event ends, and without that sustained effort, we just end up watching things fall apart from the sidelines.

                • zaperberry@lemmy.caEnglish
                  0·
                  1 month ago

                  Yeah I was definitely a bit snarky but these days, at least from me, you get the effort you give :) no hard feelings, honestly. Before going further, I just want to mention that I am outside of the US so this is more of an outside view - although the problem isn’t isolated to the US.

                  I appreciate you expanding your point, and I do agree with the general premise of your thoughts, however I believe there is a time and a place. I don’t believe it was really constructive in the context of this article. This action by Booker was probably the most action we’ve seen out of the Democrats in the US. It came across as letting perfection become the enemy of good.

                  Those who are left leaning within the US absolutely need to do better and be more aggressive in their messaging, but they’re up against a behemoth. Democrats (overall) and Republicans both, have, and are, acting against the best interest of their citizens. This isn’t meant to be a both sides argument, because they’re on different levels, but the rightward shift does not seem like an accident.

                  The road ahead is a tough one. Progressives obviously can’t rely on traditional media to cover their fight, and complaining about not getting coverage doesn’t really provide anything new. It is known that progressives are shut out by both parties within the US in favour of the status quo, moreso by the right wingers but also very much by the left wingers (I’d say liberals, but for simplicity’s sake used left wing). Nobody wants to give up their comfort despite the system which is providing them that comfort slowly yanking it out, or not resisting those who are, from under them.

                  We’re in a technological world but those who “control” that world are part of the problem. Social media kind of acts as a pressure release valve for all the anger, which though it can be helpful in spreading a message, or preventing anarchy, seems to prevent meaningful action as well. It’s a tough spot to be in.

                  Rather than spreading the message online to build up support in numbers that can meaningfully mobilize, it seems that progressives are in a spot where they need those mobilization numbers before even spreading the message lest they want to be shut out by liberals and conservatives alike. I do believe that the numbers are there, but apathy and fear are total bitches and I can understand why people have felt their efforts would be worthless.

                  At this point I’m just going off on a tangent so I’ll leave it here for now. My final point is this: what Booker did, although not immediately effective in preventing this downfall, was at the least extremely admirable, impressive in terms of will, and hopefully something that starts to get the wheels turning a little bit faster. It’s not an action to be looked at in isolation. Your explained point is correct in that there needs to be more than just celebration of this event, but let’s not put those who DO celebrate it down.

      • Melvin_Ferd@lemmy.world
        0·
        1 month ago

        Holy shit you people never understand this do you…

        Why does every grandmother know every right wing issue while all of you smuggly keep saying ‘Google it’ while you lose every battle you barely attempt to be mad about

        Do your work if you’re so committed to these causes. But the effort in yourselves or stop crying all over the Internet how everyone are fascists and Nazis now.

        Cut the shit and wake up

        • dream_weasel@sh.itjust.works
          0·
          1 month ago

          Well you’ve succeeded at being mad about it. Next maybe instead of spending 7 seconds complaining you don’t understand, spend 11 seconds and know the answer.

          If you were a right wing grandmother you would at least have watched enough TV to know something without complaining you had to watch the full segment between commercals. Instead you play the whiny and resentful twit. Sorry I didn’t make a fucking TIKTOK of this issue to fit your goldfish attention span. Channel that rage into voting, calling, and action instead of being a know nothing whiny waste of oxygen. It’s not the job of the world to spoon feed you facts and an opinion.

          “I don’t understand”. WELL JESUS FUCKING NUGGET. PUT IN SOME EFFORT YA DINGUS!

          • Melvin_Ferd@lemmy.world
            0·
            1 month ago

            Wow great job. You win whatever the you think you win here and still have a trump presidency and every other loss socially and politically and still don’t get why

            • dream_weasel@sh.itjust.works
              0·
              1 month ago

              If it gets you and anyone else off their lazy asses it’s a win. And if you “don’t get why”, thanks for your tax money because I’m the one getting breaks on your dime. Hopefully that pisses you off. If it doesn’t, well, my next house will have a pool and you’ll rent. Get mad and DO something!

              • Melvin_Ferd@lemmy.world
                0·
                1 month ago

                Just getting off a lazy ass isn’t enough. That’s not a win. Having someone drive two towns over just to stand in the rain and get their heads kicked in by police because they were misinformed how effective a protest would be is not winning. Telling each other we shouldn’t engage because it’s like rolling with pigs is self neutering.

                My point is stop thinking that posting an article or making a comment is doing fuck all. Create good fucking content

  • Eugene V. Debs' Ghost@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    0·
    1 month ago

    And this is why Cory is one of my fav senators, and I’m not in Jersey.

    I hope he breaks the record that Thormud made when protesting the Civil Rights Act of 1957. It would look kinda cool that it was broken to help stop what Thormud wanted in the future.

    • TronBronson@lemmy.world
      0·
      1 month ago

      What a great title from the black agenda report? What is that? I’m not gonna click on it but the title gave me a good laugh.

  • northendtrooper@lemmy.ca
    0·
    1 month ago

    Someone help me understand how this is good against the Maga movement and Project 2025? To me it just seems a hollowed stance that won’t amount to anything.

    • MorukDilemma@lemm.ee
      0·
      1 month ago

      It was inspiring. Many people watched and listened to him speaking the truth. This is also a blueprint for protesting in the nation: Shut stuff down. Shut down subways, buses, logistics like the postal service or trash collection. Let the country come to a grinding halt and force a change. Cause good trouble. It works.

      • Goblino@lemmy.studioEnglish
        0·
        1 month ago

        And a genocide supporting, Big Pharma bootlicker. Where was this passion when two Dems brought down Build Back Better. They don’t do shit when they actually have power. I wonder why that is…

      • But_my_mom_says_im_cool@lemmy.world
        0·
        1 month ago

        The American left is fucked, no true leftist, nobody is good enough to be an ally, democrat means the same thing as conservative, any criticism from someone slightly to the right or even left of you is tossed aside cause they’re “just as bad as trump”. The American left has splintered into toxic little groups that all hate each other. Meanwhile the right is united.

        As a non American leftists, many of us can attest that you guys have gone off the deep end, and it’s no surprise considering you still live within the American bubble

  • peoplebeproblems@midwest.socialEnglish
    0·
    1 month ago

    A neat fact: the longest filibuster in history was the against the Civil Rights Act in 1957. 24 hours and 18 minutes. Civil Rights Legislation passed two hours later.

    Booker has done a 10-day hunger strike, so I imagine he sees that as child’s play.

  • Kate-ay@lemmy.world
    0·
    1 month ago

    Every Democrat senator should be doing this for as long as their physically capable at every single opportunity.

    I’ve never been a fan of Booker but hot damn am I excited watching him close in on Klansman Thurmond’s record.

  • redwattlebird@lemmings.world
    0·
    1 month ago

    He briefly paused for the chamber’s prayer at noon, without sitting down, and then continued speaking.

    Can an American explain this to me? This is wild. Government should be 100% secular.

    • gamer@lemm.ee
      0·
      1 month ago

      I don’t think that’s a bad thing. I see it like adding a wheelchair ramp so handicapped congress people can enter the building on their own.

      If someone wasn’t able to become a congress person because it isn’t “accessible” to their religion, that would be pretty bad for democracy (although tbh I wouldn’t mind banning religious people from positions of power in general)

      • redwattlebird@lemmings.world
        0·
        1 month ago

        Churches enjoy tax exemptions. Wheelchair users do not. I firmly believe that religion should be completely separate from government.

        I think it’s ok if someone who is religious is in government, provided they do their job. Stopping for prayer isn’t doing their job.

        • gamer@lemm.ee
          0·
          1 month ago

          Consider a devout Muslim person elected to congress who is not able to pray because they don’t get time throughout the day to do it. As a result, they step down because their faith is important to them.

          The “usual suspects” don’t want Muslims in congress, so they claim that prayer breaks are unconstitutional, effectively blocking Muslims from any position in Congress, and weakening our democracy further.

          It’s another thing entirely if the “prayer breaks” were something they tried to force onto the rest of the country. That’d be the government trying to use its power to spread a particular religion, which is unconstitutional. But prayer breaks inside Congress are just an accessibility thing.

        • tomenzgg@midwest.socialEnglish
          0·
          1 month ago

          I feel like we’ve run this meme further than is useful; there’s absolutely criticisms to be had about how the separation of church in state operates within American government but it’s hardly the only “developed” (hate that word but you know what I mean) country to have a government that takes for granted Christianity as default; Britain, after all, has a state church – for (pun slightly intended) Christ’s sake – that definitely bleeds into the way its government thinks about what a religion is and how much “religion” gets support.

          I’m not saying I wouldn’t prefer (and hope we move towards) a more strict and complete separation but let’s not pretend America is astonishingly unique…

          • vonbaronhans@midwest.social
            0·
            1 month ago

            My comment was more about the hypocrisy of the term “American values”. The people who most loudly espouse “American Values” rarely do more than pay lip service to ideals they think are good in a vacuum, but never actually support in practice when those values are tested even a little bit (democracy, equality, free speech, the right to protest, etc etc).

            That may not be a uniquely American trait, either, but it is still annoyingly present enough it warrants complaining about.

    • blind3rdeye@lemm.ee
      0·
      1 month ago

      It really is pretty weird. … and interesting. I don’t necessarily think the existence of filibusters is a bad thing, but it definitely a very weird thing.

    • technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      0·
      1 month ago

      “Democracy” in USA was literally created by slavers in an attempt to violently enforce their disgusting privilege.

      That’s should tell you even more about USA “democracy”. It’s just some gross pact between slavers.

    • MisterOwl@lemmy.world
      0·
      1 month ago

      This technically isn’t a filibuster. He’s not blocking any legislation or appointments. He’s just talking, and we know how far talking gets us.

  • Definitely_Not_A_Monkey@lemmy.ca
    0·
    1 month ago

    While I find this aspect of US politics weird and I don’t know much about this specific politician, it’s nice to see someone doing something other than holding up those weird and useless signs during the address last month.

    If this last election and the last administration has shown anything it is that the Democrats must start over the rebuild the party. They need to use these next four years working on rebuilding their image and winning over Americans.

      • wolframhydroxide@sh.itjust.works
        0·
        1 month ago

        Disgrace to the name of sprog. Only one poem for sprog that I have found in the last three months, and its not even a good poem, and it was only given when someone else complained at the lack of a poem. Too much sprog, insufficient poem. Will the real Poem For Your Sprog please stand up?

        • tigeruppercut@lemmy.zip
          0·
          1 month ago

          Senator Booker stood on the floor
          For a day (plus an hour five minutes)
          To speak out on Orange acts all should deplore,
          Though at last even he found his limits.

          Observers made comments showing support,
          “At last, at least some piece of action!”
          Yet others despaired and were seen to retort,
          “Too late!” for the Democrat faction.

          But a rare beam of hope as a flash in our lives
          Shines all the more bright for the dark.
          And signals perhaps—gives a reason for why—
          His speech shows an important mark

          Of a record, now smashed, was hereto unbroken,
          And for 70 years sowed division.
          If for no other change we’ll know that he’s spoken
          And created historic revision.