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Democratic Senator Cory Booker initiated an overnight session on the Senate on Monday to voice opposition to President's policies Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk .
The senator pledged he would continue for as long as humanly possible and remained talking for over 16 hours even as legislators and staffers came back. Capitol Hill arrived on Tuesday morning and returned to his job.
The lengthy address received acclaim from the Democratic supporters who had been urging the party to more vigorously oppose the president's policies.
Supporters of Make America Great Again criticized the quick symbolic shift as an unnecessary distraction since it won’t stop Senate Republicans from advancing their plans.
Booker's lengthy address was not considered a traditional filibuster, a technique used in the Senate for years to stall or prevent a specific vote. The incident was labeled as 'unusual' by conservatives .
However, in a previous post before he began on Monday evening, the New Jersey senator said he was headed to the floor 'because Donald Trump and Elon Musk have shown a complete disregard for the rule of law, the Constitution, and the needs of the American people.'
Tonight, my aim is to engage in some constructive mischief. For as long as I can manage physically, I intend to interrupt the usual proceedings of the U.S. Senate,' he stated at the beginning of his speech on the floor.
'I rise tonight because I believe sincerely that our country is in crisis, and I believe that not in a partisan sense because so many of the people that have been reaching out to my office in pain, in fear, having their lives upended, so many identify themselves as Republicans,' he said.
The senator pre-recorded a video to post from his social media while he was speaking and his office continued to clip updates from his ongoing floor speech throughout the night.
During his remarks, the senator read messages from Americans across the country including one where he became emotional while sharing the story of a person battling Parkinson's disease who was calling for the protection of Social Security.
Booker also blasted the Trump administration for pushing to dismantle the Department of Education, imposing tariffs on the U.S. biggest trade partners and promoting tax cuts that benefit the wealthiest Americans.
At another point, the senator read a news report that the Trump administration mistakenly deported a Maryland man to a dangerous El Salvador prison because of an 'administrative error.'
Overnight, Booker received support from his Democratic peers who joined him on the floor. By giving way to their inquiries, he managed to keep command of the debate.
Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) was among those who asked questions and stayed to support the New Jersey lawmaker's effort throughout the night.
Although Booker's move wasn’t technically a filibuster, senators from both parties have historically given lengthy addresses on the Senate floor to highlight an issue or prevent a vote, ever since the body’s procedural guidelines were first set up.
During President Donald Trump's first term, Senator Jeff Merkley from Oregon conducted an extensive filibuster to oppose the nomination of Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch.
In 2013, Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) spoke for more than 13 hours to delay the nomination of CIA Director John Brennan.
Senator Ted Cruz memorably read Dr. Seuss in September 2013 during his more than 21 hour speech on the Senate floor while standing in opposition of Obamacare.
The record-setting filibuster was carried out by Senator Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.), who talked continuously for 24 hours and 18 minutes in 1957 with the aim of obstructing the Civil Rights Act.
As Booker was speaking, his name began to trend on social media.
A Democratic strategist commended his approach as a "prime example of how Democrats should be confronting issues at present," whereas former Biden administration official Neera Tanden referred to him as a "hero."
"I commend Senator Cory Booker for taking the Senate floor to highlight that the situation with Trump and DOGE is not normal. I urge all Senate Democrats, including the senator from Pennsylvania, to follow his lead," tweeted Congressman Brendan Boyle (D-Penn.).
Although Democrats applauded and expressed gratitude towards Booker for his initiatives, conservatives remained unimpressed.
A social media participant asserted that they were squandering their time, whereas another described it as an unusual method of protesting and wondered about the outcomes it could achieve.
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