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Taylor McKinnon, Center for Biological Diversity, (801) 300-2414, tmckinnon@biologicaldiversity.
Erik Schlenker-Goodrich, Western Environmental Law Center, (575) 613-4197, eriksg@westernlaw.org
Brittany Miller, Friends of the Earth, (202) 222-0746, bmiller@foe.org
Jeremy Nichols, WildEarth Guardians, (303) 437-7663, jnichols@wildearthguardians.
Lori Harrison, Waterkeeper Alliance, (703) 216-8565, lharrison@waterkeeper.org
Dan Ritzman, Sierra Club, (206) 573-5451, dan.ritzman@sierraclub.org
More than 360 climate, tribal, religious and conservation groups petitioned the Biden administration today to use its executive authority to phase out oil and gas production on public lands and oceans.
The petition provides a framework to manage a decline of oil and gas production to near zero by 2035 through rulemaking, using long-dormant provisions of the Mineral Leasing Act, Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act and the National Emergencies Act. Without such action, it will become increasingly difficult for the United States to meet its pledge to help avoid 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming and its unprecedented social, environmental and economic damage.
The petition offers a way to correct the Biden administration's collapse of climate leadership, including a failing legislative agenda and Biden's broken campaign promise to end new oil and gas leasing and drilling on public lands and oceans.
Several analyses show that climate pollution from the world's already-producing fossil fuel developments, if fully developed, would push warming past 1.5 degrees Celsius, and that avoiding such warming requires ending new investment in fossil fuel projects.
At November's COP26 summit in Glasgow, Biden called climate change "an existential threat to human existence" and pledged to cut U.S. emissions by up to 51% over the next nine years. Days later the administration offered 80 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico for oil and gas leasing, and it plans to offer more than 300,000 acres of public lands leases in March.
The Department of the Interior's review of the federal oil and gas programs effectively ignored climate, calling instead for adjustments to royalties, bids and bonding.
Meanwhile, the administration has continued to approve drilling permits onshore at a rate that outpaces the Trump administration, with more than 3,500 permits approved since taking office.
Federal fossil fuel production causes nearly a quarter of U.S. greenhouse gas pollution, worsening the climate and extinction crises and disproportionately harming Black, Brown, Indigenous and low-wealth communities.
Quotes from Petitioners
"This petition offers a lifeline for our planet and a course correction for the Biden administration's catastrophic failure of climate leadership," said Taylor McKinnon with the Center for Biological Diversity. "The natural place to start phasing out climate-destroying oil and gas production is on our public lands and oceans, and Biden has the authority to do so. If the U.S. leads, the world will follow. Biden must keep his promise to end federal oil and gas extraction."
"It's time to open new doors to a thriving, resilient future for our Western U.S. public lands and communities," said Erik Schlenker-Goodrich, executive director of the Western Environmental Law Center. "This petition does just that by winding down a cause of the climate crisis: a federal public lands fossil fuels program that serves the interests of oil and gas CEOs and investors, not the public good. We urge the Biden administration to accept the petition and move forward with swift action to protect the climate and public lands."
"At this time in history, according to Anishinaabe prophecies, people have a choice between a well-worn, scorched path and one that is new and green," said Winona LaDuke, executive director for Honor the Earth. "By all measures of science, spirit and humanity, it is incumbent upon you, President Biden and Secretary Haaland, to deliver on your promises to forge that safer path, ending fossil production on public lands and waters. We worked hard to help you gain office, and you abandoned us on Line 3; here is another significant opportunity to do the right thing. Here at White Earth we are celebrating the end of the fossil era, practicing our sustainable traditions and building the new green economy. We welcome you to come see how it's done."
"Last year over 132 million Americans experienced a climate-related disaster, with extreme weather costing over $145 billion in damage and leading to more than 688 lives lost," said Nicole Ghio, senior fossil fuels program manager at Friends of the Earth. "We cannot fight climate change while ignoring the fact that nearly a quarter of U.S. climate emissions come from fossil fuel extraction on public lands. It's time for President Biden to become the climate leader he claims to be and phase out fossil fuel extraction on public lands and waters."
"This petition simply calls on President Biden to exercise the climate leadership he's already promised this country," said Jeremy Nichols, climate and energy program director for WildEarth Guardians. "We can't confront the climate crisis unless and until we start keeping fossil fuels in the ground; it's time for the president to acknowledge and take action on this reality."
"Fossil fuel extraction on public lands and waters must end or it will only intensify the already devastating impacts to our climate and waterways," said Marc Yaggi, executive director of Waterkeeper Alliance. "Indigenous and underserved communities disproportionately bear the brunt of these impacts that result from long-standing federal policies that have favored industry over public interest. It's time the Biden administration keeps its promises and uses its position of power to be a climate leader that stems the tide of fossil fuel dependence."
"Oil and gas extraction is an environmental justice issue, continuing centuries' old exploitation and assaults on our Appalachian Ohio communities while greatly contributing to the climate crisis," said Roxanne Groff of Athens County's Future Action Network. "Our region is ripe for new technologies and innovative, cost-effective clean energy to protect our air, water, forests, and climate and improve public health and our quality of life. Appalachian Ohio's Wayne National Forest can play a huge role in protecting climate. Drilling and logging it do not serve the public good and must cease. This proposed phase-out is the least the Biden administration can do toward that end."
"Right now, fossil fuel extraction on public lands and waters make up a quarter of our greenhouse gas emissions -- at a time scientists are saying we must move urgently to cut emissions by at least half," said Dan Ritzman, director of Sierra Club's Lands, Water, Wildlife program. "Not only does it devastate our planet, it's a handout to Big Oil at the expense of average Americans, who will bear the brunt of its societal, health, and financial ramifications. We urge the Biden Administration to take advantage of this historic opportunity to make good on campaign promises, fulfill a global commitment to acting on climate, and serve American communities by accepting this petition and phasing out oil and gas production on public lands and oceans."
List of Petitioners
Center for Biological Diversity, A Community Voice, Action for the Climate Emergency (ACE), Alaska's Big Village Network, Alianza Americas, Allamakee County Protectors - Education Campaign, Alliance for Water Justice in Palestine, American Federation of Government Employees Local 704, Animals Are Sentient Beings, Inc., Animas Valley Institute, Anthropocene Alliance, Athens County's Future Action Network, Austin Climate Coalition, Baltimore, MD Phil Berrigan Memorial Chapter Veterans For Peace, Battle Creek Alliance & Defiance Canyon Raptor Rescue, Bay Area-System Change not Climate Change, Berks Gas Truth, Better Path Coalition, Beyond Extreme Energy (BXE), Biodiversity for a Livable Climate, Black Warrior Riverkeeper, Bold Alliance, Breathe Project, Brian Setzler CPA Firm LLC, Bronx Climate Justice North, Bronx Jews for Climate Action, Bucks Environmental Action, CA Businesses for a Livable Climate, Cahaba Riverkeeper, California Democratic Party Environmental Caucus, California Nurses Association, Californians for Western Wilderness, Canton Residents for a Sustain, Canton Residents for a Sustainable, Equitable Future, Cape Downwinders, Carolina Biodiesel, LLC, Carrizo Comecrudo Tribe of Texas, Catholic Network US, Catskill Mountainkeeper, Center For Ecological Living and Learning (CELL), Center for Environmental Health, Center for International Environmental Law, Central California Environmental Justice Network, Central Jersey Coalition Against Endless War, CERBAT: Center for Environmentally Recycled Building Alternatives, Chaco Alliance, Christians For The Mountains, Church women United in New York State, Citizens Climate Lobby, LA West Chapter, Citizens for a Healthy Community, Citizens' Climate Lobby, Columbia County Chapter, Ciudadanos Del Karso, Clean Energy Action, CLEO Institute, Cleveland Owns, Climable.org, Climate Action Now Western Mass., Climate Action Rhode Island - 350, Climate Crisis Policy, Climate Defense Project, Climate Finance Action, Climate First!, Inc., Climate Hawks Vote, Climate Justice Alliance, Climate Reality Project, New Orleans Chapter, ClimateMama, Coalition Against Death Alley, Coalition Against Pilgrim Pipeline - NJ, Coalition for Outreach, Policy and Education, Coalition to Protect America's National Parks, Common Ground Community Trust, Communities for a Better Environment, Community Church of New York, Community for Sustainable Energy, Community Health, Concerned Health Professionals of New York, Conejo Climate Coalition, Conservation Council For Hawaii, Cooperative Energy Futures, Corvallis Climate Action Alliance, Corvallis Interfaith Climate Justice Committee, Cottonwood Environmental Law Center, Dayenu: A Jewish Call to Climate Action, DC Environmental Network, Divest LA, Don't Gas the Meadowlands Coalition, Don't Waste Arizona, Dryden Resource Awareness Coalition, Earth Action, Inc., Earth Day Initiative, Earth Ethics, Inc., EARTHDAY.ORG. Earthworks, Eco-Eating, Eco-Justice Collaborative, EcoEquity, Elders Climate Action, Electrify Corvallis, Empower our Future - Colorado, End Climate Silence, Endangered Habitats League, Environmental Action Committee of West Marin, Environmental Justice Ministry, Extinction Rebellion Boston, Extinction Rebellion San Francisco Bay Area, Fairbanks Climate Action Coalition, First Wednesdays San Leandro, FLOW (For Love of Water), Food & Water Watch, Fossil Free California, Frac Sand Sentinel: Project Outreach, FrackBusters NY, FracTracker Alliance, Franciscan Action Network, FreshWater Accountability Project, Fridays for Future U.S., Friends For Environmental Justice, Friends of the Bitterroot, Friends of the Earth, Fund for Wild Nature, Gas Free Seneca, George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication, Georgia Conservation Voters, Global Warming Education Network (GWEN), Global Witness, Golden Egg Permaculture, Grassroots Coalition, Grassroots Environmental Education, Grassroots Global Justice Alliance, Grays Harbor Audubon Society, Great Egg Harbor Watershed Association, Great Old Broads for Wilderness, Greater New Orleans Interfaith Climate Coalition, Green America, Green New Deal Virginia, Green Newton Inc., Green River Action Network, Greenbelt Climate Action Network, GreenFaith, Gulf Coast Center for Law & Policy, Heal the Bay, HealthyPlanet, Heartwood, Heirs To Our Oceans, High Country Conservation Advocates, Hilton Head for Peace, Honor the Earth, Howling For Wolves, Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, I-70 Citizens Advisory Group, In the Shadow of the Wolf, Indian Point Safe Energy Coalition, Indigenous Environmental Network, Indigenous Peoples of the Coastal Bend, Indivisible Ambassadors, Indivisible San Jose, inNative - Business Management Consulting, Inspiration of Sedona, Institute for Policy Studies Climate Policy Program, Interfaith EarthKeepers, Interfaith Earthkeepers Eugene/Springfield Oregon, International Marine Mammal Project of Earth Island Institute, Jewish Climate Action Network, Justice & Beyond Louisiana, Karankawa Kadla, Kentucky Conservation Committee, Klamath Forest Alliance, KyotoUSA, LaPlaca and Associates LLC, L'eau Est La Vie Camp, Let There Be Light International, Liberty Tree Foundation for the Democratic Revolution. Living Rivers & Colorado Riverkeeper, LLCv, Long Beach Alliance for Clean Energy, Los Padres ForestWatch, Louisiana League of Conscious Voters, Love Wild Horses(r) 501c3, Lutherans Restoring Creation, Malach Consulting. Maryland Ornithological Society, Mass Peace Action, Massachusetts Forest Watch, Media Alliance, Michigan Interfaith Power & Light, Mid-Missouri Peaceworks, Milwaukee Riverkeeper, Mission Blue, Montana Environmental Information Center, Montbello Neighborhood Improvement Association, Mountain Progressives Frazier Park CA, Movement Rights, Movement Training Network, Nature Coast Conservation, Inc., NC Climate Justice, Ndn Bayou Food Forest, New Energy Economy, New Mexico Climate Justice, New Mexico Environmental Law Center, NJ State Industrial Union Council, North American Climate, Conservation and Environment, North Bronx Racial Justice, North Carolina Council of Churches, North County Earth Action, North Range Concerned Citizens, Northern Michigan Environmental Action Council, NY4WHALES, NYC Friends of Clearwater, Oasis Earth, Occupy Bergen County (New Jersey), Ocean Conservation Research, Oceanic Preservation Society, Ogeechee Riverkeeper, Oil and Gas Action Network, Oil Change International, Operation HomeCare, Inc., Our Revolution, Our Revolution Massachusetts (ORMA), Partnership for Policy Integrity, PeaceWorks of Greater Brunswick, Peak Plastic Foundation, Pelican Media, People for a Healthy Environment, People's Justice Council/Alabama Interfaith Power and Light, Peoples Climate Movement - NY, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Physicians for Social Responsibility Arizona, Physicians for Social Responsibility Pennsylvania, PlasticFreeRestaurants.org, Port Arthur Community Action Network, Presente.org, Preserve Giles County, Preserve Montgomery County VA, Progressive Democrats of America, Project Coyote, Protect Our Water AZ, Public Citizen, Public Lands Project, Rachel Carson Council, Raptors Are The Solution, RATT Pack, RE Sources, Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association, Renewable Energy Long Island, Resource Renewal Institute, Rio Grande International Study Center, RootsAction, Samuel Lawrence Foundation, San Bernardino Valley Audubon Society, San Francisco Bay Physicians for Social Responsibility, Sane Energy Project, Santa Barbara Standing Rock Coalition, Santa Barbara Urban Creeks Council, Santa Cruz Climate Action Network, Santa Fe Forest Coalition, Save Our Illinois Land, Save The Colorado, SAVE THE FROGS!, Save the Pine Bush, SD350, Seaside Sustainability.org, SEE-LA (Social Eco Education-LA), Seeding Sovereignty, Seneca Lake Guardian, Sequoia ForestKeeper(r), Sevier Citizens for Clean Air & Water Inc., Sierra Club, Sisters of Mercy of the Americas Justice Team, Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia, SoCal 350 Climate Action, Social Justice Commission (Episcopal Diocese of Western MA), Society of Fearless Grandmothers-Santa Barbara, Solar Wind Works, SOMA Action, South Asian Fund For Education Scholarship and Training Inc (SAFEST), South Dakota Chapter of the Sierra Club, South Florida Wildlands Association, Southwest Native Cultures, Spottswoode Winery, Inc., Stand.earth, Stop SPOT & Gulflink, Sunflower Alliance, Sunrise LA, Susanne Moser Research & Consulting, Syracuse Cultural Workers, System Change Not Climate Change, Tennessee Riverkeeper, Terra Advocati, The Climate Mobilization North Jersey, The Consoria, The Earth Bill Network, The Enviro Show, The Green House Connection Center, The Oakland Institute, The People's Justice Council, The Quantum Institute, The Rewilding Institute, The River Project, To Nizhoni Ani, Transition Sebastopol, Tualatin Riverkeepers, Turtle Island Restoration Network, Unitarian Universalist Association, Unitarian Universalists for a Just Economic Community, Unite North Metro Denver, United for Action, United For Clean Energy, United University Professions, Upper Gila Watershed Alliance, Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition, Upper West Side Recycling, Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment, UU Fellowship of Corvallis Climate Action Team, V & T Ventures, LLC, Vanderbilt dba Greenvest, Vegan Flag, Verdedenver, Vermont Yankee, Decommissioning Alliance, Veterans For Climate Justice, Volusia Climate Action, Vote Climate, Wall of Women, Wasatch Clean Air Coalition, Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility, WATCH, INC., Watchdogs of Southeastern PA (WaSEPA), Waterkeeper Alliance, WESPAC Foundation, Inc., West 80s Neighborhood Association, West Berkeley Alliance for Clean Air and Safe Jobs, West Dryden Residents Against the Pipeline, Western Environmental Law Center, Western Nebraska Resources Council, White Rabbit Grove RDNA, Wild Nature Institute, Wild Watershed, WildEarth Guardians, Wilderness Workshop, Women's Earth and Climate Action Network, Women's March Santa Barbara, Womxn from the Mountain, SafeEnergyAnalyst.org, Zero Hour, 198 Methods, 1st United Methodist Church Corvallis OR Environmental Care Team, 350 Butte County, 350 Chicago, 350 Colorado, 350 Conejo / San Fernando Valley, 350 Hawaii, 350 Humboldt, 350 Kishwaukee, 350 Marin, 350 New Hampshire, 350 New Orleans, 350 Pensacola, 350 Seattle, 350 Silicon Valley, 350 Tacoma, 350 Triangle, 7 Directions of Service
Background
Peer-reviewed science estimates that a nationwide federal fossil fuel leasing ban would reduce carbon emissions by 280 million tons per year, ranking it among the most ambitious federal climate policy proposals in recent years.
Oil, gas and coal extraction uses mines, well pads, gas lines, roads and other infrastructure that destroys habitat for wildlife, including threatened and endangered species. Oil spills and other harms from offshore drilling have done immense damage to ocean wildlife and coastal communities. Fracking and mining also pollute watersheds and waterways that provide drinking water to millions of people.
Federal fossil fuels that have not been leased to the industry contain up to 450 billion tons of potential climate pollution; those already leased to industry contain up to 43 billion tons.
At the Center for Biological Diversity, we believe that the welfare of human beings is deeply linked to nature — to the existence in our world of a vast diversity of wild animals and plants. Because diversity has intrinsic value, and because its loss impoverishes society, we work to secure a future for all species, great and small, hovering on the brink of extinction. We do so through science, law and creative media, with a focus on protecting the lands, waters and climate that species need to survive.
(520) 623-5252One critic wrote that an email from Harvard University's president about the Trump administration's funding review capitulated to the "bogus premise that this is about 'protecting' students against antisemitism."
This week, Harvard University learned that Trump administration is reviewing nearly $9 billion in federal grants awarded to the school and Princeton University has had multiple research grants suspended by multiple federal agencies—making the two institutions the latest in series of elite colleges to have their funding threatened by U.S. President Donald Trump.
In the case of Harvard, the scrutiny from the Trump administration is explicitly tied to Trump's pledge to crackdown on what he sees as rampant antisemitism on college campuses.
In the name of opposing antisemitism, Trump has vowed to target foreign-born students who have engaged in pro-Palestine protests, activities that the president has described as "pro-jihadist." Several students who have taken part in pro-Palestine activism have already been targeted for deportation.
According to a Monday statement from the U.S. Department of Education, multiple federal agencies are launching a comprehensive review of federal contracts and grants at Harvard as part of the ongoing efforts of the Trump administration's Joint Task Force to Combat Antisemitism.
The task force will review over $255.6 million in contracts between Harvard, its affiliates, and the federal government, as well as $8.7 billion in multiyear grant commitments to the university and its affiliates to ensure "the university is in compliance with federal regulations, including its civil rights responsibilities."
"Harvard's failure to protect students on campus from antisemitic discrimination—all while promoting divisive ideologies over free inquiry—has put its reputation in serious jeopardy. Harvard can right these wrongs and restore itself to a campus dedicated to academic excellence and truth-seeking, where all students feel safe on its campus," said Education Secretary Linda McMahon in a statement on Monday.
In a message that was denounced by multiple observers, Harvard's president Alan Garber wrote in a Monday message to the Harvard community that the school has devoted "considerable effort" to addressing antisemitism on its campus over the past 15 months, including by "enhancing training and education on antisemitism."
"We still have much work to do," wrote Garber. "We will engage with members of the federal government's task force to combat antisemitism to ensure that they have a full account of the work we have done and the actions we will take going forward to combat antisemitism."
"If this funding is stopped, it will halt lifesaving research and imperil important scientific research and innovation," he also wrote.
Researcher Hannah Gais, a graduate of Harvard Divinity School, wrote on Monday that Garber's message "completely caves to the administration and its bogus premise that this is about 'protecting' students against antisemitism."
"What a disgraceful letter from Harvard president Alan Garber, surrendering entirely to Trump and the pernicious nonsense that America's universities, some of the greatest and most Jewish institutions in American life, are rife with antisemitism," wrote historian and editor Sam Haselby on X.
Meanwhile, the president of Princeton told the university community on Tuesday that several research grants to the university have been suspended by the federal government.
"The full rationale for this action is not yet clear, but I want to be clear about the principles that will guide our response," wrote Princeton president Christopher L. Eisgruber on Tuesday, according to The New York Times. "Princeton University will comply with the law. We are committed to fighting antisemitism and all forms of discrimination, and we will cooperate with the government in combating antisemitism."
In February, the Task Force to Combat Antisemitism announced that it would be investigating 10 universities, including Harvard and Columbia University—which recently had $400 million in federal grants revoked by the Trump administration. That list did not include Princeton, though Princeton was one of 60 colleges that received letters last month from the U.S. Department of Education that warned of potential actions against schools if the government found they had not done enough to protect Jewish students.
After the Trump administration stripped Columbia of the $400 million, the administration announced later in March that it was freezing $175 million in federal funds for the University of Pennsylvania, citing the university's policies on transgender athletes.
In March, Columbia announced a number of changes to the school that aligned with the wishes of the Trump administration as part of negotiations over the rescinded $400 million in federal grants—prompting a wave of criticism of the university.
In an opinion piece for Common Dreamspublished on Tuesday, Steve Striffler, the director of the Labor Resource Center at the University of Massachusetts Boston, argued that it is not wholly accurate to say that Columbia's changes were a "capitulation" to the Trump administration.
Instead, "it seems quite likely that Columbia's leaders accepted Trump's demands not so much because they were forced to (capitulate), or because they saw fighting as either futile or potentially disastrous, but because they welcomed the opportunity and political cover that Trump's order provided," he wrote.
"More of this energy from every Democrat please," said one progressive commentator as the New Jersey lawmaker continued to hold the floor of the U.S. Senate with a speech that has lasted more than 20 hours—and counting.
This is a developing news story... Please check back for possible updates.
Answering the voting public's growing call for the Democratic Party to actually stand up to Republicans' sweeping assault on the federal government, led by U.S. President Donald Trump and his billionaire adviser Elon Musk, Sen. Cory Booker took to the Senate floor at 7:00 pm Eastern Time on Monday and was still speaking as of Tuesday afternoon.
Early in his remarks, Booker (D-N.J.) cited the example of late Congressman John Lewis (D-Ga.), a civil rights icon who famously declared in 2020, "Get in good trouble, necessary trouble, and help redeem the soul of America."
Booker, who ran for president in 2020, explained Monday that he asked himself, "If he's my hero, how am I living up to his words?"
"What's happened in the past 71 days in a patent demonstration of a time where John Lewis' call to everyone has, I think, become more urgent and more pressing," Booker said. "So, tonight, I rise tonight with the intention of getting in some good trouble. I rise with the intention of disrupting the normal business of the United States Senate for as long as I am physically able."
"I rise tonight because I believe sincerely that our country is in crisis—and I believe that not in a partisan sense, because so many of the people that have been reaching out to my office in pain, in fear, having their lives upended, so many of them identify themselves as Republicans," the senator continued.
Booker stressed that "bedrock commitments are being broken, unnecessary hardships are being borne by Americans of all backgrounds, and institutions which are special in America, which are precious, which are unique in our country, are being recklessly and I would say even unconstitutionally affected, attacked, and even shattered."
"In just 71 days, the president of the United States has inflicted so much harm on Americans' safety, financial stability, the core foundations of our democracy, and even our aspirations as a people for, from our highest offices, a sense of common decency. These are not normal times in America, and they should not be treated as such," he argued. "I can't allow this body to continue without doing something different, speaking out. The threats to American people and American democracy are grave and urgent, and we all must do more—we all must do more against them."
Booker accused the president of "betraying" America and causing "chaos, instability, and harm" by working to gut a wide range of programs—an effort spearheaded by Trump's Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency—while seeking tax cuts for wealthy people and corporations, which Republicans are trying to push through Congress.
Over several hours, the senator addressed topics such as GOP attacks on healthcare, including efforts to cut Medicaid; attempts to dismantle the Social Security Administration and the U.S. Department of Education; a mass deportation agenda that has swept up immigrants like Kilmar Abrego Garcia; and the administration's "national security policies that are leaving our allies abandoned, our adversaries emboldened, and Americans less safe."
Throughout Booker's many hours standing at the podium—he reportedly had the chair removed to avoid the temptation to sit down—he sporadically yielded for a question from a Democratic colleague while retaining the floor, which gave him opportunities to rest his voice and transition from topic to topic.
As The Associated Pressreported: "Democratic aides watched from the chamber's gallery, and Sen. Chris Murphy accompanied Booker throughout his speech. Murphy was returning the comradeship that Booker had given to him in 2016 when the Connecticut Democrat held the floor for almost 15 hours to argue for gun control legislation."
Other Democrats who asked questions of Booker included Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) and Sens. Angela Alsobrooks (Md.), Michael Bennet (Colo.), Richard Blumenthal (Conn.), Maria Cantwell (Wash.), Chris Coons (Del.), Tammy Duckworth (Ill.), Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.), Amy Klobuchar (Minn.), Ben Ray Luján (N.M.), Ed Markey (Mass.), Patty Murray (Wash.), Alex Padilla (Calif.), Jack Reed (R.I.), Adam Schiff (Calif.), Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.), Chris Van Hollen (Md.), Raphael Warnock (Ga.), Mark Warner (Va.), Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), Peter Welch (Vt.), Sheldon Whitehouse (R.I.), and Ron Wyden (Ore.). Independent Sen. Angus King (Maine), who caucuses with Democrats, also joined in.
Many of them praised Booker's stunt—as did Trump critics across social media, including Democrats in the lower chamber such as former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and Rep. Ilhan Omar (Minn.), who declared that "this is the kind of relentless resistance our democracy demands."
As of press time, Booker had been speaking for over 20 hours. Congressman Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) said: "Proud of Cory Booker! It would be poetic justice if he beats Strom Thurmond's record of speaking 24 hours and 18 minutes to block the 1957 Civil Rights Act. Yes, the longest filibuster in our nation's history was to block civil rights."
Booker's move came amid calls for Schumer to step down as minority leader after caving to Republicans during the latest government shutdown crisis, and as polling shows that a large majority of registered Democrats and Independent voters who lean Democratic are frustrated with the party for not effectively fighting Trump and supporting working poeple.
Sharing the livestream on social media Tuesday, the American Federation of Teachers said: "Sen. Booker has been standing on the Senate floor since last night, speaking powerfully on behalf of families and our nation. Thank you for your unwavering leadership, Sen. Booker."
Matt Royer of Young Democrats of America asserted that what Booker "is doing is heroic and courageous and exactly what we're looking for from Washington during this time. If you are not following along with this and why he is doing it, you absolutely should."
Podcaster Brian Tyler Cohen similarly pleaded, "More of this energy from every Democrat please."
"There is no way this makes Americans healthier."
HIV prevention. Anti-tobacco advocacy. The safety of mining workers.
All are among the health priorities that evidently have no place in U.S. President Donald Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy's vision to "Make America Healthy Again," following the mass firing of 10,000 people at the nation's top health agencies on Tuesday.
The layoffs hit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), with some staffers informed of their dismissal after they arrived at work—only to be told to return home.
Kayla Tausche at CNN reported that laid off employees at the HHS building in Rockville, Maryland were forced to do a "walk of shame" past dozens of their former colleagues who were lined up outside the building, waiting to learn their own fate.
The employees who were laid off Monday evening into Tuesday are the latest of more than 100,000 federal workers who have lost their jobs since Trump took office and placed billionaire tech mogul and megadonor Elon Musk at the help of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency. Last week, Kennedy said the federal health agency workforce would be reduced from about 82,000 to 62,000 people, with the restructuring making room for what he called "the Administration for a Healthy America" at HHS.
"We're going to do more with less," said the secretary, who has expressed skepticism about the scientifically proven benefits of vaccinations and claimed without evidence that the rate of chronic disease rose over the four years that former President Joe Biden was in the White House.
Kennedy said last week that communications for the health agencies would be brought under his control in the "restructuring," and many of the layoffs impacted people responsible for relaying information to the public.
Twenty people who handle public communications for one National Institutes of Health (NIH) program analyzing the genes of volunteers for health research were among those placed on administrative leave Tuesday—a precursor to being laid off, one official toldUSA Today.
The FDA's Office of Media Affairs was also disbanded, as well as most of the 50-person communications team for the agency's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, which manages information on drug approvals, shortages, and potential risks.
"The general public likely won't feel the results of these HHS layoffs immediately," said Larry Levitt, executive vice president of KFF. "But eventually, these layoffs will affect the health information available to people, access to care and prevention, and oversight of health and social services."
Other impacted employees include those in internal agencies focused on the health of senior citizens, people with disabilities, and minority communities, and workers studying asthma, lead poisoning, radiation damage, and the health effects of extreme heat and wildfires.
The administration appeared to see HIV prevention as a key target, placing the director of the National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention on administrative leave and dismantling teams that do HIV research and surveillance.
Despite his claims last week about wanting to fight chronic disease, Kennedy did not outline plans to better equip the federal government to fight heart disease, diabetes, and other chronic conditions. At the CDC, The New York Times reported Tuesday, "entire departments studying chronic diseases and environmental problems were cut."
In a post on LinkedIn on Tuesday, former FDA Commissioner Robert Califf, who served under Biden and former President Barack Obama, said the agency "as we've known it is finished" and warned the federal government was losing critical institutional knowledge by firing thousands of people.
"I believe that history will see this [as] a huge mistake," said Califf. "I will be glad if I'm proven wrong, but even then there is no good reason to treat people this way. It will be interesting to hear from the new leadership how they plan to put 'Humpty Dumpty' back together again."
Journalist Sam Stein of The Bulwarkcalled the mass firings "an absolute bloodbath" with a "generation of scientists, healthcare officials being wiped out."
Brown University professor Dr. Craig Spencer said the country "will regret this."
"These are the people who make sure the medications you and your children take are safe. These are the people who perform and oversee research on cancer, infant health, and so, so, so much more. These are the people who make sure new devices that physicians and patients use are effective," said Spencer. "And now, thousands of them are gone. There is no way this makes Americans healthier."