Cory Booker sets Senate record with 25-hour speech against Trump policies

Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) has broken the record for the longest speech ever delivered on the floor of the U.S. Senate, surpassing a 1957 filibuster by Strom Thurmond that had stood for nearly seven decades.

Booker began speaking at 7 p.m. on Monday and continued into Tuesday evening, reaching 24 hours and 19 minutes at 7:19 p.m.—just one minute past Thurmond’s mark. He ultimately yielded the floor at 8:04 p.m. ET, concluding a total of 25 hours and 4 minutes of uninterrupted remarks. As he finished, the chamber erupted in applause and cheers.

“This is a moral moment,” Booker said in his final remarks. “It’s not left or right, it’s right or wrong.” He ended by addressing the presiding officer: “My friend, Madame President, I yield the floor.”

Booker later returned briefly to thank Senate staff, clerks, and doorkeepers, acknowledging that he had kept them awake throughout the night. The gesture drew further applause from those present.

The speech, delivered as a form of protest, focused on President Trump’s proposed budget cuts to federal agencies. Booker described the moment as a “national crisis” that required endurance and moral clarity.

The senator had vowed to speak as long as he was “physically able,” and spoke without interruption, using the opportunity to appeal to fellow lawmakers and the public.

Booker’s feat now tops a list of historic Senate speeches known for their length and impact. Strom Thurmond famously spoke for 24 hours and 18 minutes in 1957 in a controversial effort to block the Civil Rights Act.

In 2013, Senator Ted Cruz spoke for 21 hours and 18 minutes in opposition to the Affordable Care Act, delivering one of the longest speeches in modern Senate history. Cruz’s remarks included extended monologues, readings of children’s books, and criticism of both parties, drawing widespread media attention.