• A heated Senate clash erupted Tuesday as Cory Booker accused Democrats of being “complicit” with President Trump over police funding disputes. The floor drama reflects broader party divisions over constitutional priorities, political leverage, and executive power.

WASHINGTON, DC (TDR) — In a rare and fiery intra-party clash on the Senate floor, Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) unleashed a searing rebuke of fellow Democrats, accusing them of enabling President Trump and abandoning constitutional principles. The outburst came after Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) attempted to pass a police funding package by unanimous consent—prompting Booker to object in dramatic fashion.

Booker: “Democrats Are Being Complicit”

“This, to me, is a problem with Democrats in America right now,” Booker said forcefully. “We’re willing to be complicit to Donald Trump.”

The crux of Booker’s frustration centered on a set of police grant bills that, while broadly popular, would not send funding to Democratic-led states like New Jersey, New York, California, or Illinois—all targeted by Trump’s January 20 executive order freezing federal funding tied to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).

“We are standing at a moment where our president is eviscerating the Constitution,” Booker continued. “And we’re willing to go along with that today? No, not on my watch.”

Booker argued that Democratic lawmakers should use their leverage to compel Trump to release frozen funds for blue states instead of allowing the administration to pick winners and losers based on political alignment.

“It is a violation of our Constitution for the president of the United States to ignore the will of Congress and decide which states are eligible for grants and which are not,” he declared.

Senate Tensions Boil Over

The floor dispute escalated when Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) challenged Booker’s consistency, noting that he had previously objected to her policing bills even before Trump entered office.

“This is not just about this,” Klobuchar said. “Sen. Booker objected to my police reauthorization bill long before Donald Trump came into office.”

She also jabbed at Booker for missing the Judiciary Committee markup where the bills were advanced:

“I can’t help it if someone couldn’t change their schedule to be there.”

The remark clearly stung. Booker, visibly irritated, responded with personal conviction.

“I don’t need lectures on urgency,” he shot back. “One of my best friends, a police officer in New Jersey, died by suicide after a hard day’s work.”

He went on to decry what he described as a pattern of capitulation to Trump’s growing influence—across law firms, universities, media, and even within his own party.

“This is a wake-up call,” Booker thundered. “I see law firms bending a knee, universities silencing free speech, and businesses canceling shows to curry favor with the president.”

The senator was likely referring to multiple flashpoint events, including Columbia University’s $221 million settlement with the administration and the recent CBS cancellation of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, a vocal Trump critic. Critics have tied that decision to Paramount’s efforts to win merger approval from the Trump-led FCC.

“Complicity With a Totalitarian Leader”

Booker saved his sharpest words for fellow Democrats who, he said, were too willing to pass funding bills knowing they would exclude blue states.

“Let’s look the other way and pass resources that won’t go to Connecticut, Illinois, or New York—but only to states the president likes? That is complicity with a totalitarian leader,” he said.

Cortez Masto rejected the charge, noting that Booker had not objected during the committee process.

“He had the opportunity to submit any amendment. He didn’t,” she said. “What he was trying to do is kill all these bills.”

The Nevada senator, who chaired the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in 2020, said the legislation was essential for public safety.

“These are bills that support law enforcement,” she insisted. “Quite honestly, that’s where Democrats need to be—supporting law enforcement and keeping our communities safe.”

She added that while she was “disappointed” in Booker’s rhetoric, she stood by the bipartisan work of the Judiciary Committee in advancing the measures.

A Constitutional Crisis or Political Theater?

Booker’s outburst underscores growing unrest within Democratic ranks about how to confront what they see as a presidency untethered from legal norms. His comments reflect not just a policy disagreement, but a philosophical reckoning over what it means to govern with principle in an era of executive overreach.

Is this a turning point for Democratic resistance—or a glimpse at deeper fractures within the party’s constitutional conscience?

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