Democratic senators team up to help Cory Booker continue ‘talking filibuster’ protesting Trump agenda

Democratic senators jumped in to support the New Jersey Democrats' protest of President Trump's policies as Senator Cory Booker continued his talking filibuster for more than eighteen hours on Tuesday. With assistance from New England colleagues, including two senators from Massachusetts, Booker, who took the Senate floor for the first time on Monday evening, used his time to rant against a wide range of Trump policy decisions, from federal workforce reductions to deportations.

The display of power follows broad grassroots criticism of congressional Democrats for failing to adequately oppose Trump's agenda in the early months of his second term. The party has been powerless to halt or hinder the rapid advancement of Trump's administration because it is the minority in both chambers.

When a senator starts speaking on the Senate floor and will not stop, it is known as the "talking filibuster" and effectively stops the Senate from moving. They can allow colleagues to ask questions whenever they like, but they are not allowed to sit down or leave the floor, which would return the floor to the dominant party. A full day was the longest such endeavor in history.

Booker's filibuster had nothing to do with opposing a particular bill that was being considered by the Senate. Booker claimed that the goal of his speech was "to utilize my voice to accomplish what people are demanding on me to do," in order to fight back against Trump, in a pre-recorded video that was uploaded to his X account just after he reached the 13-hour milestone.