House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) hosted a powerful sit-in at the U.S. Capitol on Sunday, drawing hundreds of supporters to protest Republican plans to pass a $1.5 trillion federal spending cut through budget reconciliation.
Beginning at 6 a.m., Booker and Jeffries led the sit-in on the Capitol steps, warning that the GOP’s proposed budget would gut critical services, including Medicaid, elderly care, and disability services. “That bill, we believe, presents one of the greatest moral threats to our country,” Booker said in his opening remarks. “It will strip food from the hungry, care from the elderly, services from the disabled, and healthcare from the sick.”
Framing the budget fight in moral terms, Booker invoked Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s words: “Budgets are moral documents.” He encouraged attendees and online supporters to “give your own testimony” about how the proposed cuts could impact their lives, urging a national outcry against the bill’s consequences.
Jeffries underscored the historic and urgent nature of their protest. “Enough. This is not America,” Jeffries declared. “We will continue to show up, speak up, and stand up until we end this national nightmare.”
The sit-in, which coincided with Booker’s birthday, served as a moment of solidarity and reflection for many present. Jeffries joked, “I’m sure you didn’t expect last year, when thinking about this birthday, that I would be your birthday date in this location.”
Supporters ranged from everyday citizens to major progressive figures such as Maya Wiley, president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. Wiley personalized the stakes of the budget fight: “When we’re talking about cuts, people bleed. We should put names behind them.” She shared stories of Americans like Sarah from South Dakota, whose Medicaid-funded healthcare supports her son suffering from daily seizures, and Jasmine from Alabama, who became disabled after an injury while caring for others.
The sit-in continued for over nine hours under the spring sunshine, with several Democratic lawmakers lending their voices to the cause. Among them were Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), and Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), alongside faith leaders and civil rights advocates.
Sunday’s protest adds to Booker’s growing reputation for endurance and passion. Earlier this month, he shattered Senate records by speaking for over 25 hours on the Senate floor against policies of the Trump administration.
As Congress returns from a two-week recess on Monday, Jeffries warned that Democrats are bracing for an “existential struggle” to defeat what he called “a reckless budget jammed down the throats of the American people.”
