This week, New Jersey’s Democratic Senator Cory Booker entered the US Senate History by pronouncing the longest speech in the history of the house, with an continuous 25 hours and 5 minutes speech. He replaced the record that remained since 1957, when the conservative Republican Strom Thurmond spoke with his comrades for 24 hours and 18 minutes, in a practice of obstacles called “Philibule”.
Brooker’s long speech was not configured as a “filibument” because he did not intend to hinder any important voice, only highlight his position against Donald Trump’s government agenda, such as pricing policy, the effort that the billionaire Elon Musk led to reduce federal bureaucracy and possible cuts in Medicaid.
Also read: Cory Booker breaks record in the US Senate with 24h speech against Trump
Strom Thurmond tried decades earlier to prevent the vote of one of the first readings of civil rights.
But how is this “Philibument” practice and in what other situations did this occur? THE Fancy Made a list of previous items and curiosity.
1908 – La Follette and “Killer Gem”
Robert M. La Follette was almost half a century the holder of the only speech record, a total of 18 hours and 23 minutes, with breaks for actoses. The Newbie Senator of Winsconsin fought a measure designed to protect the coin and annoyed many colleagues throughout the night by the insistent quiper controls. Its popularity also did not increase with the kitchen staff when it ordered a turkey sandwich and an egg yolk early in the morning. When he took a long sip during the snack, he drove the glass away and said he had been drugged. During the following hours, he helped himself with allied asposes to run to the bathroom during a bowel crisis. Years later, he said that the ice cream had been analyzed and that the mixture of milk and eggs contained enough toxic bacteria to kill everyone who consumed the entire glass.
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Group barriers
In 1915, a controversial obstacle for a bill to buy merchant vessels ended after 33 days, with a coalition of conservative Republicans and Democrats who blocked the legislation. Already in March 1917, when the United States prepared to enter the First World War, a group of 11 senators successfully prevented a bill that allowed President Woodrow Wilson armor in the United States. La Follette was in the group he spoke for 24 hours, but the legislation was approved weeks later, by a large majority.
Against “New Deal”
President Franklin Roosevelt’s famous “New Deal” plane was also the goal of obstacles. Louisiana Huey Pierce Long spoke in 1935 against economic and social action legislation for 15 hours and 30 minutes, the second longest obstruction of the Senate to date. Known to distribute Bibles to reporters who covered the Congress was his reason to prevent his political enemies from Louisiana from getting profitable jobs at the NRA State Agency.
Hollywood
A man’s obstacle first became a script and a successful film in Hollywood in 1930. In the movie “Mr. Smith goes to Washington” (“Woman does the man” in the Portuguese title) becomes the naive manager Jefferson Smith (James Stewart) Senator is encouraged by a group of politicians who want to make a view to me. The corrupt environment is clear when an Smith project to create a youth camp met another for the construction of a pond in a river in the same region. He is slandered and accused of trying to take advantage of financially and comes close to fatigue by defending his point of view. Director Frank Capra’s classic film was even accused of Antipatriota for the form that showed the Senators. Won an Oscar of custom script.
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Underwater
The longest obstacle record was broken in 1953, when Wayne Morse spoke for 22 hours and 26 minutes against the law that discussed the state versus federal property in submerged oil country in Offshore. The so -called “Senate Tiger” began as a Republican politician, but became independent a headache for five presidents. In January 1953, morning arrived at the opening session for the 83rd congress with a folding chair. “Since I didn’t get any places in the new Senate, I decided to bring mine.”
Against civil rights
James Strom Thurmond in South Carolina, a glowing opponent of civil rights legislation, was responsible for the longest speech record until she was beaten in 2025. He had already acquired fame to prevent all legislative proposals in this sense that arrived in the Senate. This obstacle lasted 24 hours and 18 minutes in August 1957, but that said a bit because the proposal was approved the next day. At that time, he joined 18 other southern senators to sign South Manifesto, a statement that resistance to such an agreement in public education after historical decisions from the US Supreme Court.
Debt ceiling
How about staying for 16 hours and 12 minutes and listening to someone who talks about increasing the ceiling for public debt. Senator William Proxmire from Wisconsin was the author of the urgency in September 1981. Proxmire warned to increase the country’s debt level during a project to approve a total debt of $ 1 trillion. His Senate Eater pointed out that taxpayers paid tens of thousands of dollars to keep the plenary open all night during their speech. This debt has increased several times since then.
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Military spending
The New York Alfonse d’Amato spoke for 23 hours and 30 minutes to paralyze the debate on an important military law project in 1986. D’Amato attacked an amendment to the bill that would have reduced the financing of an educational beam built by a company based in his state, according to published reports. This was just one of D’Amato’s best known and longest obstacles. In 1992 he made “men’s barriers” for 15 hours and 14 minutes and contained a $ 27 billion account.