Jeffries and Booker end sit-in protest against GOP budget on Capitol steps after more than 12 hours

Washington — House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Sen. Cory Booker voiced their opposition to the Republican budget plan key to enacting President Trump’s agenda as the sun rose on Sunday, holding a sit-in protest on the steps of the Capitol that lasted more than 12 hours.

Shortly after 6 a.m., the pair began livestreaming their conversation, while Booker warned of a “moment of moral urgency” as Congress is set to return from a two-week recess on Monday. The New Jersey Democrat had pledged to sit and discuss the coming fight for “a good number of hours,” a promise he kept by remaining on the steps for more than half a day.

Booker noted the protest had gotten approximately 6 million views online through various platforms as of Sunday evening. The sit-in came less than a month after Booker delivered a record-breaking 25-hour speech on the Senate floor to protest the Trump administration’s policies.

Congressional committees are set to begin work this week on the centerpiece legislation of Mr. Trump’s first-year agenda, after both the House and Senate adopted a budget resolution that serves as a blueprint before leaving town for recess. The plan is a key step toward implementing Mr. Trump’s priorities on border security, defense, energy and taxes, and GOP leaders in Congress have circled an ambitious goal of getting it to the president’s desk by Memorial Day.

Republicans are pursuing the plan under the budget reconciliation process, which allows the party in power the ability to approve major legislation without working across the aisle. Meanwhile, Democrats have vehemently opposed the plan, pushing back chiefly against potential cuts to Medicaid.

“As we prepare to come back into session tomorrow, this is a time to choose,” Jeffries, a New York Democrat, said as the conversation kicked off early Sunday. “And we’re either going to choose the side of the American people, or we’re going to choose this cruel budget that Republicans are trying to jam down the throats of the American people.”

Jeffries and Booker were joined by other lawmakers throughout the conversation, including Sens. Chris Coons of Delaware, Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Brian Schatz of Hawaii and Adam Schiff of California, along with Reps. Andre Carson of Indiana and Maxwell Frost of Florida, along with advocates, leaders and passersby.

Additional lawmakers who joined in the concluding hours of the sit-in included Sens. Raphael Warnock of Georgia and Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware and Reps. Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri, Sarah McBride of Delaware, Mark Takano of California, Tom Suozzi of New York, Sydney Kamlager-Dove of California, Steven Horsford of Nevada, Suhas Subramanyam of Virginia, Emily Randall of Washington, Sarah Elfreth of Maryland and Delegate Stacey Plaskett.

“We can’t keep doing things like business as usual. We have to think of creative, new things to do,” Booker said. “So Hakeem and I thought, let’s sit on the steps of the Capitol, open up a live feed right before the sun rises, and begin a conversation.” 

In the early part of the sit-in, the conversation ranged from the budget plan to more broad opposition to the Trump administration, along with personal stories that centered on faith. Later in the day, Booker and Jeffries also handed the microphone to people who spoke about the impact they say Medicaid has had on their families’ lives, while they urged lawmakers to protect their benefits.

Nikole Killion

contributed to this report.