Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon launched a marathon speech on the Senate floor Tuesday night, warning that President Trump's actions pose "grave threats" to American democracy. The Democrat began speaking at 6:21pm Eastern and wrapped it up almost 23 hours later at around 5pm Wednesday. He used the platform to criticize what he described as the Trump administration's erosion of constitutional norms and aggressive use of federal power, CNN reports. "We're in the most perilous moment, the biggest threat to our republic since the Civil War," he said. "President Trump is shredding our Constitution." Merkley's speech was both a personal warning and a broader display of Democratic resistance.
The senator accused Trump of undermining free speech and the press, weaponizing the Justice Department against opponents, and seeking to deploy federal troops to cities, including Portland, to quell protests. "This is an extraordinarily dangerous moment," Merkley said. "President Trump wants us to believe that Portland, Oregon, in my home state, is full of chaos and riots," he said. "Because if he can say to the American people that there are riots, he can say there's a rebellion. And if there's a rebellion, he can use that to strengthen his authoritarian grip on our nation."
Merkley's speech came as the government shutdown entered its fourth week, with Democrats and Republicans locked in a standoff over health care subsidies. Merkley, who paused his remarks at times for questions from Democratic senators, said Republicans had shut down the government "to continue the strategy of slashing Americans' health care." An 11th vote on stopgap funding bills failed on Monday and a 12th one is expected later Wednesday, the Hill reports.
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Critics noted that Merkley's all-night speech forced security and support staff, currently unpaid because of the shutdown, to work overtime, the AP reports. GOP Sen. John Barrasso said Democrats were forcing support staff to "work all night so they can give speeches patting themselves on the back for shutting down the government and hurting the American people." Earlier this year, Democratic Sen. Cory Booker set a new Senate record with a 25-hour speech. The AP reports that Merkley's speech was also one of the longest in Senate history. "I don't recommend standing through the night and talking," said the senator, who is 68 years old and will turn 69 on Friday. "Not a healthy pursuit. But I am standing here to ring the alarm bells." This story has been updated with new developments.
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