LAST UPDATE | 2 Apr 2025

A US SENATOR has finished delivering a marathon speech that lasted for over 25 hours to highlight Democrats’ objections to President Donald Trump’s sweeping actions.

New Jersey Democratic Senator Cory Booker took to the Senate floor on Monday evening, saying he would remain there as long as he was “physically able”.

The 55-year-old senator spoke for more than 25 hours as Democrats try to show their frustrated supporters that they are contesting Trump’s agenda.

The previous record was held by South Carolina’s Strom Thurmond, who filibustered for 24 hours and 18 minutes against the Civil Rights Act of 1957.

“These are not normal times in our nation and they should not be treated as such in the United States Senate,” Booker said as he launched into his speech. “The threats to the American people and American democracy are grave and urgent, and we all must do more to stand against them.”

Booker has railed for hours against cuts to Social Security offices led by Trump adviser Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.

He listed the impacts of Trump’s early orders and spoke about concerns that broader cuts could be coming to social safety nets.

Booker also read what he said were letters from constituents. One writer was alarmed by the Republican president’s talk of annexing Greenland and Canada and a “looming constitutional crisis”.

“I hear you. I see you, and I’m standing here in part because of letters like yours,” Booker said.

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 11pm (Irish time) on Monday and finished at 12.05am this morning.

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. He said unnecessary hardships are being born by citizens and the institutions meant to protect their rights are being “recklessly” attacked. 

“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.

He had words of encouragement for Trump opponents, saying as he concluded that “the power of the people is greater than the people in power”.

Booker later went into detail about how he withstood the physical demands of the speech. He said he stopped eating on Friday and drinking on Sunday night, which had “its benefits and had its real downsides”.

He said different muscle groups began to cramp up with dehydration. He said he was tied and hoarse in a statement from his office. 

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.

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.

With reporting by AFP and Press Association