Democratic Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey gave a record-breaking 25-hour-long speech to the U.S. starting on March 31, 2025, and ending on April 1, 2025. Senator Booker was criticizing the Trump administration’s many disastrous failures since it took office on Jan. 20, as well as the brash and destructive actions of Elon Musk’s federal layoffs and program cuts.
In order to prepare for the non-stop speech, Booker fasted during the preceding days so that his body could be acclimated to the lack of sustenance while speaking. During the speech, Booker did not eat, sleep, sit down or leave to use the bathroom, only occasionally taking sips of water. Booker’s body took such a hit from the physical exertion that his exercise app pinged him to ask if he was working out over the course of his speech—his heart rate rose to as high as 100 beats per minute over a continuous period.
This preparation helped him achieve what the Associated Press heralded as a “feat of determination.” Starting his address at 7 p.m. on the 31st and ending at 8:05 p.m. the following day, Booker addressed the Senate continuously for 25 hours and five minutes straight, only assisted by his other Democratic colleagues from various states posing him questions on the Senate floor in order to give him momentary breaks from speaking.
Booker touched on many topics throughout the speech, including economic policy, recent nationwide immigration fears and diversity in the workforce. He also went into detail about schools and academic research, and the dangers posed to them by Trump’s executive orders. He decried the recent national security incident involving Middle Eastern airstrikes being discussed in an unsecured channel: “The Secretary of Defense looked the American public in the eye and said: 2 plus 2 equals 9…the American public was like: Wait a second. We read them…I know those were war plans. I know that that was classified information.”
Also included in Booker’s marathon were numerous impassioned, detailed letters from constituents and non-New Jersey residents alike. Many of them echoed similar sentiments of extreme anger and fear due to actions by the Trump administration. A number of letters that Booker especially highlighted first and foremost were from parents around the nation, as well as those in-state who were concerned about the GOP’s potential dismantling of Social Security. Families vented their frustrations in their letters to Booker about the looming specter of possible inability to afford basic necessities. One Pennsylvanian senior writes, “I do not feel safe due to cuts in so many [institutions] that have kept us safe.”
Booker’s speech was in protest of Trump and Musk’s actions in the government at large, as well as what he termed their “reckless trashing” of government institutions while answering a question from Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy—including but not limited to USAID. He condemned the “vilification” of one of America’s most vital aid networks, and sharply criticized Trump’s failure to live up to the grand commitments he made to the country as a whole on the campaign trail.
“[Trump] promised to lower your grocery prices; they are higher. He promised to be a better steward of the economy; it is worse than what he inherited it. Over and over, he is breaking promises and doing outrageous things,” Booker noted in response to a question from Senator Chris van Hollen of Maryland. “Do we see what is happening? How much is enough? We have to stand and do something different not just in this body[,] but in America.”
Booker’s marathon broke the Congressional record for the longest address in Senate history, surpassing a previous time of 24 hours and 18 minutes set by then-Senator Strom Thurmond of South Carolina in 1957. Thurmond’s record was set in an unsuccessful attempt to block a civil rights act of the same year expanding voting rights for non-White citizens. Thurmond’s speech consisted mostly of claims that the act was not necessary, as well as a reading of each state’s voter intimidation laws in alphabetical order.
Booker did not indicate to Politico that he started his time with an intention to surpass Thurmond, instead showing a desire to last at least for the 15 hours that he and Murphy held in 2016 to discuss gun violence. However, as the day went by, “[Booker’s] colleagues began to openly discuss” the possibility of Thurmond’s longtime record being broken. Once Thurmond’s time had been passed, Senator Chuck Schumer (a New York Democrat) informed Booker on the Senate floor that he had indeed shattered the record amidst a loud ovation from other lawmakers: “Do you know how proud this caucus is of you? Do you know how proud America is of you?”
“I’m not here, though, because of his speech; I’m here despite his speech,” commented Booker after the marathon, highlighting a desire to “break the record of the man who tried to stop the rights upon which I stand.”
Booker’s stand has further highlighted an already glaring fact: the integrity of the nation’s government has been severely undermined in the public eye ever since Donald Trump has taken office. No one is quite sure what the next move of the administration will be. After hearing Booker’s speech and suffering due to the government cuts, many, like the senior from Pennsylvania, have asked: ”Are we still the land of the free and the home of the brave?”
Katie Germinder and Sabr Keres-Siddiqui are both sophomores. Germinder is majoring in environmental studies and sustainability. Keres-Siddiqui is majoring in sociology and minoring in journalism and journalism advocacy.