Democrats Clash on Senate Floor: Booker’s Fiery Call for Action Sparks Heated Debate

Clear Facts

• Senate Democrats engaged in a heated argument on the Senate floor, with Sen. Cory Booker accusing his colleagues of supporting authoritarianism.
• Booker criticized bipartisan police funding bills, arguing they align with President Trump’s agenda, while his colleagues criticized him for not participating in the legislative process earlier.
• The argument highlights ongoing tensions within the Democratic Party about how aggressively to oppose President Trump, amid declining public approval ratings.

A fiery confrontation erupted among Senate Democrats on Tuesday, as New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker launched a scathing critique against his party members on the Senate floor. His accusations centered on claims that his fellow Democrats were betraying their principles and enabling authoritarianism.

Booker’s impassioned speech came as he objected to a series of bipartisan police funding bills. These bills, introduced by Democratic Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Catherine Cortez-Masto alongside Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, had previously passed the Senate Judiciary Committee without opposition.

“What I am tired of is when the President of the United States of America violates the Constitution, crashes our norms and traditions, and what does the Democratic Party do?” Booker questioned.
“Comply? Allow him? Beg for justice?”

He expressed his desire to amend the legislation to limit the president’s power to withdraw grant funding from certain jurisdictions. However, Klobuchar and Cortez-Masto criticized him for not proposing this amendment during the committee’s markup session.

The altercation underscores a growing divide within the Democratic Party regarding how aggressively to confront President Trump. Booker, who is rumored to have presidential ambitions for 2028, chastised his colleagues for not adopting a more combative stance.

“The Democratic Party was about to give Donald Trump tens of millions of dollars when he has already told the Democratic Party, ‘I’m not gonna let blue states have this,'” Booker told reporters.
“Democrats need to learn to fight and fight him and stop him from hurting people.”

He further emphasized, “There’s a lot of us in this caucus that want to fight. This, to me, is a problem with Democrats in America right now is we’re willing to be complicit.”

Klobuchar, in response, criticized Booker for missing the opportunity to voice his objections during the legislative process.

“One of the things I don’t understand here is that we have committees for a reason, and we have hearing for a reason,” she remarked.
“You can’t do one thing on Police Week and not show up and not object and let these bills go through and then say another [thing] a few weeks later in the big speech on the floor.”

She further pointed out, “These and the other police bills passed during Police Week — police officers are sitting there in the hearing room when no one objected. I can’t help it if someone couldn’t change their schedule to be there.”

Booker, visibly angered by Klobuchar’s comments, defended his integrity and motives.

“Don’t question my integrity. Don’t question my motives,” he retorted.
“Dear God if you want to come at me that way, you’re going to have to take it up with me because there’s too much on the line in America.”

He continued, “When are we going to stand together if we don’t stand as Democrats? We deserve to lose.”

This public dispute comes amidst troubling polling data for the Democratic Party, with a survey indicating a 63% unfavorable view among voters — the highest in 35 years.

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