On April 1, Senator Cory Booker set the record for the longest speech on the Senate Floor, but it was not a filibuster. On Tuesday evening, the 55-year-old Democratic Senator from New Jersey took the floor and spoke for 25 hours and 4 minutes, breaking the record of the longest individual floor speech in the Senate from Senator Strom Thurmond, who filibustered for 24 hours and 18 minutes against the Civil Rights Act of 1957.
Senate Procedures:
The United States Senate follows parliamentary procedure, and part of this procedure is unlimited debate, which protects a majority from moving quickly to stomp over a minority, but it also enables people to filibuster. A filibuster is a person who objects and takes the floor to share their thoughts in an effort to delay or stop a vote from happening.
Unlimited debate means that the speaker cannot be interrupted, so they may talk for as long as they like and are able. They may not leave the chamber or stop speaking, but there is nothing forcing them to remain focused on a specific topic. While a bill only needs a 51 of 100 vote majority to pass, it needs 60 of 100 votes to end the debate over the bill, effectively requiring 60% favor to pass a bill. This vote to end debate and vote on a bill is called the “cloture” and falls under Senate Rule XXII.
Cory Booker’s stunt is not considered a filibuster because there was no active bill trying to be voted on. However, his speech still halted usual duties of the Senate for the time he was speaking.
Goal of the Speech:
Booker’s speech was an effort to call out the current political climate and be the voice for more significant action that many of his constituents and others are calling for. Booker’s speech spoke out against President Donald Trump “in what may be the most dramatic and sustained public challenge to Trump’s agenda since his return to the White House.” Booker’s speech focused on his anti-Trump sentiment that he noted was shared by many of his constituents, even going as far as to read some of their letters on the Senate floor. Notably, he represents New Jersey, which is a member of the Blue Wall, which is a group of states that have consistently voted Democratic since at least the 1992 Election.
The realities of speaking for 25 hours:
Booker could not leave the chamber or sit down, so he did not eat or use the restroom during that time. He did, however, have occasional sips of water and allowed other democratic senators to ask him questions and make short speeches for short respite sessions from speaking.
In a post speech interview, Booker, a former High School football player, admitted that his methodology of “was to stop eating, I think I stopped eating on Friday, and then to stop drinking the night before I started on Monday, and that had its benefits and it had its really downsides.” He said that this left him very dehydrated, which in combination with the prolonged standing led to muscle cramps and spasms – a move that he said was unadvisable from the knowledge he had from being an athlete, but felt was important given the political circumstances.