Who Is Cory Booker and why he is talking all night in the US Senate?

In the quiet hours of the early morning, as most of America sleeps, New Jersey SenatorCory Booker is still standing—literally—on the floor of the United States Senate, delivering a marathon speech that has stretched from Monday evening deep into Tuesday morning. His voice is hoarse, his tone fiery, and his mission crystal clear: disrupt business as usual.“I rise tonight because I believe sincerely that our country is in crisis,” Booker declared, setting the tone for what has become a passionate plea against what he sees as a dangerous trajectory under PresidentDonald Trump’s administration. So, who is Cory Booker, and what exactly is he doing?The man behind the micCory Booker is no stranger to the spotlight. A former mayor of Newark, Booker rose to national prominence with a reputation for charisma, eloquence, and a flair for big, dramatic gestures. Since joining the Senate in 2013, he’s carved out a role as one of the chamber’s more idealistic and outspoken Democrats. He's a member of the Senate Democratic leadership team and a past presidential contender, often seen as a voice of moral clarity within his party — even if sometimes dismissed by critics as performative.But last night’s speech was no campaign trail oratory. This was a raw, deliberate act of resistance.Not quite a filibusterTechnically, what Booker is doing isn’t a filibuster. He’s not blocking a vote or halting legislation in its tracks. But in spirit? It's a protest — a disruption of the “normal business of the United States Senate,” as he put it — a throwback to old-school Senate drama, where standing up and speaking out still meant something.The Senate had already concluded voting for the day when Booker began his remarks at 7 p.m. ET on Monday. But by remaining on the floor, he kept the lights on, kept staff working, and sent a message: business as usual can’t continue while millions of Americans are, in his view, under attack.What’s at stake?Booker’s overnight speech touched on a broad range of issues, but one stood out: health care. He railed against potential Medicaid cuts proposed by congressional Republicans — cuts that Republicans claim will target only waste and fraud, though specifics remain vague. Booker wasn’t buying it.“It is maddening in this country,” he said, “to create greater and greater health care crisis and for us not to solve it but to battle back and forth... leaving more Americans suffering.”He invoked the memory of the late Sen. John McCain, who famously voted down a GOP health care repeal effort in 2017, and whose legacy Booker used as a moral measuring stick for today’s Senate. “I know you wouldn’t sanction this,” Booker said, speaking as if McCain were watching from the rafters.Backed by colleagues, fueled by convictionThough he stood alone at the podium, Booker wasn’t entirely alone. Fellow Democrats took turns asking him questions — a parliamentary maneuver that allowed him brief respites without surrendering the floor. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer praised Booker’s “strength and conviction.” Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester, who prayed with Booker before the speech began, asked God to give him “words of love.”That religious undertone, that appeal to moral conscience, runs throughout Booker’s political brand. “Good trouble,” he called it, invoking civil rights icon John Lewis — the kind of trouble meant to shake institutions awake.In a long traditionMarathon speeches in the Senate aren’t unheard of. From Ted Cruz’s anti-Obamacare soliloquy to Rand Paul’s surveillance protests to Strom Thurmond’s infamous 24-hour talkathon against civil rights, the Senate has seen its fair share of long-winded stands. Booker’s speech joins that legacy — not for obstruction, but for symbolic resistance.The real questionWill it matter? That depends. Speeches like these don’t often change votes. But they can shift narratives, rally the base, and remind a weary public that someone — somewhere in Washington — is willing to lose sleep for what they believe in. Cory Booker may not be filibustering in the formal sense. But in spirit, he’s doing something that might be even rarer these days: giving a damn, out loud, for as long as he physically can.