Late in the evening on April 1, Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) yielded the Senate floor after a marathon speaking session that had begun over 24 hours earlier, his speech shattering the record previously held by Sen. Strom Thurmond since 1957.
Rising at around 7:00 p.m. ET on March 31, Booker spoke through the night and into the next day in a speech targeting President Donald Trump’s aggressive use of executive authority in the opening days of his second term.
“These are not normal times in our nation,” Booker said near the start of his speech.
He finally yielded the floor at 8:05 p.m., with his time on the floor clocking in at a total of 25 hours and 5 minutes. By that point, Booker, eyes wide and bloodshot, was visibly rocking back and forth on his tennis shoes, occasionally pacing around his desk.
As he broke the record at around 7:19 p.m., the Senate chamber erupted into applause from both Senate and House Democrats Democrats who had come to watch the historic event.
Though the speech didn’t challenge any singular piece of legislation, it still served as a strong morale boost for Democrats, who until now have been reeling to articulate effective opposition after Trump’s sweeping 2024 win.
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Thurmond’s record-breaking speech against the Civil Rights Act of 1957—a comparably weak precursor to the broader 1964 legislation—went 24 hours and 18 minutes, and came after weeks of preparation. It’s been unbroken until now.
Booker acknowledged this record in comments to reporters.
“I was very aware of Strom Thurmond’s record since I’ve gotten to the Senate,” he said. “It just seemed wrong to me. Always seemed wrong.”
Here’s how Booker made his way over the finish line to break one of the Senate’s most awkward records.
Under the rules of the Senate, any senator is generally entitled to speak for as much time as they choose. When a senator exercises this prerogative by retaining the floor, it’s known as a standing filibuster—which can only be ended by the votes of 60 members, or by the speaker yielding.
In accordance with standing filibuster rules, Booker could not sit down or leave the chamber, even to use the restroom.
Technically, the standing filibuster requirement ended in 1975 in favor of the “silent filibuster,” which allows lawmakers to block any legislation that fails to win 60 votes initially.
Since then, a handful of lawmakers have delivered high-profile standing filibusters despite their not being required. These are usually symbolic, meant to bring attention to an issue or topic, or merely to delay the passage of legislation or confirmation of a nominee.
Physically preparing for more than 20 hours on one’s feet is an arduous process—a bathroom emergency, dehydration, starvation, or simple physical collapse could all end a speech early.
Ahead of his 1957 filibuster, Thurmond, then 54, prepared by dehydrating himself using a steam room to avoid needing the bathroom, according to a 2005 biography by Jack Bass and Marilyn W. Thompson.
Booker, 55, took similar steps, he told reporters.
“I fasted for days, I stopped drinking water a long time ago … I definitely started cramping up from lack of water,” he said.
Early into the speech, Booker also ordered an aide to remove his seat in the chamber to reduce his urge to sit, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) told reporters.
Aside from the physical burden, filibusters of this length also require a great deal of prepared materials.
Even when a filibuster has a topic—such as preventing the passage of a piece of legislation or blocking an executive appointee—senators aren’t obligated to talk about related issues.
One of the most famous moments from any filibuster came in 2013, when Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) used part of his 21 hour, 19 minute speech to read from Dr. Suess’s “Green Eggs and Ham.”
In preparation for his record breaking speech, Booker had 1,164 pages of prepared material, according to his office.
Reflecting after the event, Booker told reporters that spirituality played a role in breaking the record.
“I’m just really grateful. And I will tell you something, a lot of folks prayed with me. A lot of folks prayed for me, and I’m a person of faith,” he said.
—Joseph Lord, Jackson Richman
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