Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) is bridging a messaging divide with the House as Senate Democrats ratchet up their opposition to President Donald Trump.
Booker, the communications chairman for Senate Democrats, invited his House counterparts to speak at Thursday’s caucus lunch, where members of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee gave a briefing on their voter outreach.
The conversation covered how to think “outside the box” with social media but also ways to hold more joint House-Senate events in their home states.
“We talked a lot about social media and the ways that we can utilize social media, and we also talked about doing more in person, but especially doing more when we’re not in D.C.,” said Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL), a DPCC co-chairman who attended the meeting.
The lunch was just the latest instance of Booker, elevated to his post in January, breaking an unspoken barrier between the two chambers, which often operate in isolation and sometimes clash over policy.
In April, Booker held an all-day “sit-in” on the House steps with Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) to denounce the early actions of the Trump administration. Most recently, he and two other Senate Democrats attended Tuesday’s House markup of proposed Medicaid changes, thanking raucous protesters, many of whom were arrested, outside the committee room.
“It’s definitely something that we’re just trying to continue that kind of collaboration,” Booker said of Thursday’s meeting. “We’re in this existential moment where we’re all trying to center the voices of our constituents, and they overlap considerably.”
Booker conceded the sight of a senator walking over to the House is uncommon — or, as he put it, “not normal.” But in an era where the party base is clamoring for a more confrontational style of politics, Booker is dropping the pretense of a body known as the upper chamber.
He’s also navigating a period of unease between House and Senate Democrats, who just two months earlier were bitterly at odds over Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) decision to avoid a government shutdown fight with Republicans.
Part of the outreach stems from a desire to share notes. The briefing, Frost said, was a chance for House Democrats to discuss lessons learned as they increasingly embrace social media, and not with uniform success.
He and two other DPCC members, Reps. Debbie Dingell (D-MI) and Lauren Underwood (D-IL), attended the lunch to discuss how to better incorporate content creators and alternative media into their messaging.
“I mean, look, more and more people are getting their news from people who are not journalists,” said Frost, the first Gen Z member of Congress. “And so we have to figure out how we come at that.”
Booker held a separate briefing last week to encourage Senate Democrats to get on social platforms like Twitch and Snapchat, according to Axios, as the party tries to replicate President Donald Trump’s “new media” success.
Trump not only has a large footprint on TikTok, but his election victory was fueled, in part, by a steady stream of podcast appearances.
“I mean, this has been a big part of Cory Booker’s advocacy,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) said of the social media training.
Booker is not alone in partnering with House Democrats. Sens. Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) have embarked on nationwide tours to GOP-held districts, bringing with them progressive Democrats like Frost and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY).
It’s also common for House and Senate members to sponsor bills together or hold cross-chamber press conferences to tout their legislation. But Frost, who has been touring with Murphy, called Thursday’s briefing a chance to broaden that joint outreach, both in Washington and when lawmakers leave for congressional breaks.
“I think when we all go to our districts, sometimes just Congress in general has a tendency to kind of, you know, be siloed,” Frost said. “So we have to message when we’re home.”
The home state rallies have filled a leadership vacuum since Republicans gained unified control of Washington in a stinging election loss for Democrats. Party morale plummeted further in a March fight over government funding, when Schumer and nine other caucus Democrats handed Republicans the votes to avoid a shutdown.
House Democrats including Jeffries had urged the senators to risk a lapse in funding to get a better deal.
Booker has tried to use his place of influence in Congress — he is the No. 4 Senate Democrat — to rehabilitate the party’s approval ratings, which have flirted with record lows driven by flagging Democratic enthusiasm.
At the beginning of April, Booker delivered the longest floor speech in Senate history, standing for 25 hours as he denounced Trump’s cost-cutting department and a GOP tax plan being ushered through the House.
He has also stoked speculation about his own national ambitions, though Booker dismissed the idea he would make a second run for president after his marathon floor speech.
Schumer, too, has attempted to defuse tensions with the House, holding a press conference and drafting joint statements with Jeffries, who initially offered a delayed and brief vote of confidence in his leadership.
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This past week, Booker joined two other Democrats, Sens. Brian Schatz (D-HI) and Tina Smith (D-MN), at the House Medicaid hearing.
Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), who previously sat on the committee that held the markup, made a separate trip to the House that same afternoon.