Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., took the Senate floor on Monday at 7 p.m. ET and resolved to retain it “for as long as I am physically able.” He did so through the night and into the morning, reading out loud from letters and emails from the everyday Americans hurt by President Donald Trump’s arbitrary and painful spending cuts. Late Tuesday afternoon, Booker was still speaking, leaning on the podium at times, but determined to keep going.
It wasn’t technically a filibuster that Booker conducted. He wasn’t talking to delay a vote on any specific agenda item. Instead, Booker said, in giving his marathon speech, he was “disrupting the normal business of the United States Senate.” After watching his heroic 25-hour long effort, I say our country would be better off if promoting the values Booker lifted up was the normal business of the Senate.
“These are not normal times in our nation,” Booker insisted at the start of his speech.
“These are not normal times in our nation,” Booker insisted at the start of his speech. His rhetoric may have been a response to the growing pressure from Democratic voters to see the officials they elected show real resistance to Trump. A recent NBC News poll found “almost two-thirds of Democrats, 65%, say they want congressional Democrats to stick to their positions even if that risks sacrificing bipartisan progress, and just 32% want them to make legislative compromises with Trump.” Democrats were at an all-time low in popularity in that survey; only 27% of registered voters reported having a positive view of the party.Those numbers speak to a maddening thirst for leadership from Democratic political figures. I eagerly await behind-the-scenes reporting on Booker’s speech, including how much planning and coordination, if any, there was among Senate Democrats. The third-term senator chairs the caucus’ strategic communications committee, so I would guess he at least gave Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., a heads-up before he took the floor.
But when did Democrats realize that Booker speech was a rallying point for a party that has been lacking a guiding star for the last three months? Because the energy that Democrats were radiating around the time Booker had been speaking for over 20 hours wasn’t there when he first took the floor.Booker spent Monday night addressing a mostly empty chamber, but by Tuesday morning his Democratic colleagues had helped make his protest a team effort. “I yield for a question but retain the floor” became a catchphrase of sorts as a parade of his colleagues stepped up to ask him lengthy questions and keep the momentum going. There was no shortage of topics, as Booker responded to their prompts with stories of, say, the hardships veterans face thanks to cuts from Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency. There were also questions and answers about the economic damage that Trump is causing, and expressions of empathy for people who were already struggling to get by and are now being left by Musk and Trump to fend for themselves.
But maybe what America needs right now is a little cringe, a recommitment to being genuine and earnest in our desire to help others.
The support Booker received from his colleagues made the marathon speech different from previous faux filibusters. When Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, held the floor to protest Obamacare in 2014, his fellow Republicans were confused and infuriated by his one-man stunt that would have no real impact on the debate. Booker’s speech wasn’t what was once referred to as a “gentleman’s filibuster,” a lengthy speech that doesn’t interrupt the Senate’s other business. Booker delayed at least one major Trump administration nomination as he spoke.“Is Cory cringe or is this refreshing?” a colleague messaged me at one point during Booker’s speech. The answer, as my colleague immediately noted, is “yes.” Booker can be the cringiest of senators, which is saying something, wearing his heart on his sleeve and brandishing an inspiring quote at every possible chance. His lack of cynicism can be off-putting in a time when doomerism is rampant and hope can feel like a lie in the face of harsh reality. But maybe what America needs right now is a little cringe, a recommitment to being genuine and earnest in our desire to help others.
The question is whether Democrats can keep this energy going beyond this specific moment. We need to see the party do this when there’s an inflection point, that is, when there’s a time where Republicans are demanding they move aside and they instead throw themselves upon the gears of the federal government. It makes little sense to engage in such a protest when the stakes are lower and not do so when they’re much higher.
Booker has wrapped up his marathon speech, but if the Senate’s Democrats want to show their angry constituents that they’re listening, they cannot let the business of the Senate return to the old normal.
