With Democrats still figuring out how to respond to Republican dominance in Washington and the Trump administration‘s whirlwind of policy changes, Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., single-handedly stepped up to Trump Monday evening.
Booker took to the Senate floor Monday evening to begin an epic speaking session that endured into Tuesday morning.
Warning about Trump’s crisis for ‘as long as I am physically able’
Evoking the late Georgia Rep. John Lewis and his inspirational words, Booker told his colleagues, “I rise with the intention of getting in some good trouble.” The senator announced, “I rise with the intention of disrupting the normal business of the United States Senate for as long as I am physically able.” Booker warned that “our country is in crisis,” noting, “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.”
‘You are seen, you are heard’
Throughout his speech, Booker covered everything from Trump evoking laws such as the Alien Enemies Act to deport immigrants without due process, warning that such abuses of power will continue and grow unless the administration is put in check, to noting the incompetence and dangerous actions of administration officials accidentally leaking sensitive military information. He has read and responded to letters from constituents and Americans from around the country, such as a 65-year-old woman from Wisconsin who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and urged Booker to protect Social Security so that she can afford medical care.
“You are seen, you are heard, your voices are more important than any of the hundred of us,” Booker said of the people he seeks to defend.
Colleagues join Booker in epic Senate session: Is it a filibuster?
Booker’s speech is technically not a filibuster — in which one or more senators speak without interruption to prevent a vote on a piece of legislation or a nomination — as there is not currently a bill or nominee being debated. But Booker is evoking the filibuster tradition to protest the Trump administration’s overall policies and constitutional overreach. Although Booker has taken it upon himself to hold the Senate floor, he is not alone in his efforts. Senate rules allow other senators to ask questions during his speech.
“I will yield for a question while retaining the floor,” Booker has said repeatedly as various Democratic colleagues have stepped up to ask extended questions that further highlight their criticisms and fears about the Trump administration, ranging from immigration to national security to the undermining of organizations like the military, the Department of Justice and the Social Security Administration. As of 10 a.m. Tuesday, Booker was still speaking, 15 hours after he began.
Booker’s marathon speech to the Senate is one of the most high-profile acts of defiance against the current Trump administration since the president took office in January. While the senator has called out the administration and warned the American people about the dangers of the president’s actions, his speech highlights just how many fights Democrats have ahead of them if they seek to oppose the Trump agenda.
