For anyone watching the Democratic party since Donald Trump’s inauguration in January 2025, the perception is that the majority of the party has not done much in terms of fighting back in a substantial way. However, as March 31 started to wind down into the next month, Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey began a marathon speech on Congress’s house floor that lasted 25 hours.
During his time spent addressing Congress, Booker addressed both concerns about the current administration’s actions and spoke to constituents writing to him from all over the nation. As he spoke through much of his time at the podium, while given slight breathing breaks in between when asked questions by his colleagues, he brought a massive amount of letters to read from and respond to, including several that came from Charlotte.
Booker used some of his time to talk about the ways that the Department of Education has stripped away protections offered to the transgender community in guarding against sex-based crimes.
“Sex-based cases also include harassment involving gender identity, an issue that fueled Mr. Trump’s campaign last year and motivated executive orders early in his administration aimed at preventing schools from recognizing transgender identities, barring transgender girls and women from competing on girls’ and women’s sports teams and terminating programs that promote ‘‘gender ideology,” Booker stated.
There were also a number of letters that addressed constituent concerns in his own state, including one coming from a religious leader. The identity was hidden from the Senator for the citizen’s protection.
“Thank you, Senator Booker,” the letter reads. “Please continue to fight the good fight against the injustices being done by the current administration. I am the pastor of Emanuel Lutheran Church in New Brunswick. As a faith leader and your constituent, I am deeply concerned about the treatment of LGBTQ people and immigrants by this administration. The demonization and marginalization of these groups is unchristian and deeply offensive to the values of my faith. I ask that you continue to oppose all Executive orders and legislation that targets these groups. You have been a consistent ally. Please continue to be a champion for justice for all people, but especially the most vulnerable.”
The speech is historic, having surpassed former Senator Strom Thurmond’s time on the stand for just over 24 hours while filibustering the Civil Rights Act of 1957, and making Booker’s speech the most recent and most time consuming to be recorded. In addition to conquering Thurmond’s record, the speech was important because it evidenced something new in terms of the fight coming out of left-leaning politics in America. Booker’s move toward fighting back will hopefully inspire other more creative means of combating the current administration’s actions against the nation as citizens do all they can to sound the alarms.
Booker’s words chronicled many of the issues that the current administration has incited within the first hundred days of the new presidency, including Social Security, health care and joblessness brought about by the major cuts to State Departments.
The letters Booker read and thoughts he shared regarding healthcare, Social Security and education were intense and reflective of America’s feelings about the current administration.
“Medicaid has saved my life many, many times,” Booker read from one of the many letters sent in. “Without it many people in America will die. Please help us.”
Regarding Social Security, he shared the following thoughts: “Our country has made a promise to people that if you pay into the Social Security program your whole life that money will be there for you when you retire,” said Booker. “Social Security is not the government’s money to spend. It’s the hard-earned savings of working americans. The president and Elon Musk need to keep their hands off of it.”
His comments on the attempt to discontinue the federal level Department of Education were equally hard-hitting. “The administration wants to dismantle [and] destroy the department of education and scatter its responsibilities across agencies … that are not equipped to handle them. This is ultimately about whether or not … we believe that every child deserves an education.”
The following morning, the 55-year-old senator, who had spent exactly 25 hours and 5 minutes behind the podium, appeared on a number of different media outlets to discuss his endeavor.
During the entire speech, Booker did not sit, eat or use the restroom.
“The body is weary in a lot of places, from my back to my feet and to my legs, I’m just feeling it,” Booker told All Things Considered host Juana Summers. “But my soul is soaring and I feel very blessed by the whole experience.”
Additional material added by Qnotes staff.