Booker’s speech came as part of a broader effort by Democrats to highlight what they view as perilous actions by Republicans, which include potential spending cuts to the tune of trillions of dollars and ongoing efforts by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to slash the federal workforce.

It also comes as the party tries to turn the page following a rocky stretch. Democrats have been trying to most past the bruising fight over funding the government last month after Schumer led a group of colleagues to help pass a GOP-written government funding bill, angering the base.

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Republicans are hoping to move expeditiously in order to make their 2017 tax cuts permanent. GOP lawmakers have maintained that Social Security will not be touched in this effort, while any changes to Medicaid will not be aimed at beneficiaries, but rather to root out “waste, fraud and abuse.”

This led Booker to embark on his marathon speech, during which he was required to remain standing and was unable to leave his desk. The New Jersey Democrat had a Senate page take away his chair so he was not tempted to sit down throughout his speech, according to Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.).

House Republican leaders on Tuesday canceled votes for the rest of the week after a band of GOP lawmakers staged a rebellion on the floor, bringing legislative action to a screeching halt.

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) informed lawmakers the next vote in the House would be Monday evening.

The announcement came minutes after nine Republicans joined all Democrats in opposing a procedural rule that would have killed a bipartisan effort to allow proxy voting for new parents. The vote also blocked planned votes on GOP priorities to limit the power of federal judges and to require proof of citizenship to vote.

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That hardball tactic, however, failed Tuesday when nine Republicans voted with Democrats to torpedo the procedural vote, bringing key legislative action on the floor to a halt. Without adopting a rule, the House is unable to debate and vote on big-ticket legislative items.

“It’s a very disappointing result on the floor there, a handful of Republicans joined with all Democrats to take down a rule,” Johnson said after the vote. “That’s rarely done.”

The thwarted rule means the House leaders cannot hold votes as planned on the No Rogue Rulings Act, which would limit the power of federal judges to impose nationwide injunctions like those that have blocked Trump administration actions; and the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which would require proof of citizenship in order to register to vote.

Democrats scored a critical win Tuesday in their first major test at the ballot box since President Trump took office in January.

The elections came amid growing anger over the Trump’s administration’s immigration and economic policies, its handling of free speech, and the federal cuts made under Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

The night served in part as a referendum on Musk, who has played an outsized role in the administration and poured millions of dollars into the Wisconsin race.

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Trump and Musk had a tough night in Wisconsin, a battleground state that the president won by less than a percentage point in November, pointing to possible trouble ahead for the administration as it looks toward the midterms.

Both men endorsed Brad Schimel, a former GOP state attorney general, though it was Musk who became deeply invested in the race in the weeks leading up to the election. His America PAC spent $12.5 million alone in the race, and Musk himself traveled to the Badger State on the Sunday before the election.

Democrats, who supported liberal candidate Susan Crawford, sought to harness anger toward Musk as a way to gin up their base — efforts that ultimately proved successful, as Crawford won decisively.

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But it was Democrat Gay Valimont’s overperformance in Florida’s 1st Congressional District that appeared to raise eyebrows even more. Patronis defeated Valimont by 14.8 points five months after Trump won the district by 37 points. Democrats also celebrated flipping Escambia County; Valimont won it by just over three points on Tuesday after Trump won it by nearly 20 points in November.