In marathon speech, U.S. Senator Cory Booker accuses Trump of 'recklessly' attacking democratic institutions

Thomson Reuters

· Posted: Apr 01, 2025 7:01 PM EDT | Last Updated: 28 minutes ago

Democratic U.S. Senator Cory Booker accused U.S. President Donald Trump of "recklessly" attacking the nation's antiauthoritarian institutions successful a marathon code that was approaching a grounds connected Tuesday.

The 55-year-old New Jersey lawmaker, successful a code that began astatine 7 p.m. ET connected Monday and went connected done the nighttime and into Tuesday afternoon, criticized the run by the Republican president and his cardinal advisor Elon Musk, the world's richest person, to slash ample swaths of the national government.

"Our institutions are being recklessly and unconstitutionally attacked and adjacent shattered," said Booker, archetypal elected to the U.S. Senate successful 2013.

In his archetypal weeks backmost successful office, Trump's administration has moved to outright shutter definite arms of the government, including the U.S. Department of Education, withheld congressionally approved spending and has questioned the authorization of the national courts to constrain its policies.

Democratic voters person go angry in caller weeks arsenic Trump, backed by a Republican-controlled Congress, has shaken up long-established U.S. alliances and chopped much than 100,000 national workers. This anger has been aimed some astatine Republican lawmakers and the Democratic party's ain leaders, including apical Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer, for co-operating with Senate Republicans to walk a authorities backing measure that averted a partial shutdown.

"Cory Booker is looking for different 'I americium Spartacus' moment, but that didn't enactment for his failed statesmanlike campaign, and it didn't enactment to artifact President Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh," said lawman White House property caput Harrison Fields.

Booker approaching Senate record

By Tuesday afternoon, Booker was approaching the all-time Senate grounds for longest continuous speech, which is presently held by the segregationist Senator Strom Thurmond of South Carolina.

In the summertime of 1957, Thurmond launched a filibuster against civilian rights authorities that lasted 24 hours and 18 minutes. In the end, Thurmond failed successful his ngo to artifact a measure that expanded national protections of voting rights for Black people.

Since Booker's code is not aimed astatine a circumstantial portion of legislation, it's not technically considered a filibuster, though it has halted different Senate action.

The lone breaks Booker took were erstwhile a watercourse of chap Democrats, one-by-one, came to the level to inquire him a question, allowing him to support power of his speaking time.

By Tuesday afternoon, helium began to show signs of strain. When helium dropped a portion of insubstantial from his table helium looked down, precise dilatory and cautiously began bending to prime it up lone to beryllium rescued by chap Democratic Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado, who sprang to his aid.

A unifying taxable of Booker's wrath was Musk's run to slash the size and scope of the U.S. government.