Cory Booker’s 25-hour oration

Democratic U.S. Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey made history on April 1, 2025, when he stood on the Senate floor and spoke for 25 hours and five minutes, delivering the longest floor speech in the history of the U.S. Senate.

Breaking the filibuster record is certainly a splendid accomplishment by Senator Booker.  What motivated him?

With social media and the news cycle, for a message to have impact, it must come in the form of a clever sound bite or pithy statement.  A filibuster is the opposite of a meme.  What was Booker really trying to accomplish.  There are a few theories.

  • My fellow Clemson Alumnus, Democratic Senator Strom Thurmond, held the filibuster record with a time of 24 hours, 18 minutes.  The Democrat Thurmond was attempting to block the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1957 introduced by the Republican Eisenhower administration.  That isn’t a good look for Democrats, and since the Senate isn’t doing much right now, Booker figured it would be a good time to break that shameful record.
  • Cory Booker wants to raise his profile as a presidential candidate for the 2028 election.  The Democratic Party is in the midst of a generational shift.  The old guys are leaving, and there is no stand-out leader of the party.  Kamala Harris and Pete Buttigieg are covered with Biden stink, so they are weak.  Governors and mayors, like Andrew Cuomo, Rahm Emanuel and Gavin Newsom, achieved poor results as leaders, so are vulnerable.  Congressional representatives will seem too young and inexperienced.  A Democratic senator seems the most likely, and of those, Cory Booker stands out.  Breaking the filibuster record provides national exposure.
  • President Trump’s administration is moving quickly to implement his campaign promises. Activist district judges are resisting with judicial orders that exceed their authority, but that cannot last for very long before the Supreme Court gets involved.  Democratic senators aren’t able to do much.  As Bluto says in the movie, Animal House, “I think this situation absolutely requires a really futile and stupid gesture be done on somebody’s part!”  Cory Booker is just the guy to do it.
  • Cory Booker wanted to start a national conversation about bladder health and hydration.  Since his filibuster, there have been many articles about urinary tract infections.  Holding water for so long allows bacterial to proliferate.  Progressives can be a vengeful lot.  See how they have turned on Elon Musk.  Cory Booker may not have felt free to collaborate with RFK Jr.