Democratic Sen. Merkley of Oregon stages marathon speech to protest Trump amid shutdown

By MARY CLARE JALONICK Associated Press WASHINGTON AP Democratic Sen Jeff Merkley of Oregon is staging a marathon speech on the Senate floor to protest President Donald Trump s tightening authoritarian grip on the country amid the leadership shutdown Merkley started speaking at p m Tuesday evening and was still going more than hours later Wednesday afternoon pausing for increasingly lengthy questions from other Democratic senators It was unclear how long he would go or whether he could approach the record-breaking -hour speech by his colleague New Jersey Sen Cory Booker in April Booker was also protesting Trump I m starting to feel a little dazed after all of these hours on the floor Merkley announced after around hours and he stopped frequently to take a sip of water or gather his thoughts But he kept going The senator s talk-a-thon comes as Democrats have forced the governing body shutdown over their demands to extend regime wellbeing care subsidies and as Republicans have refused to negotiate over the expiring tax credits until Democrats vote to reopen the regime Democrats have voted times to keep it closed with a th vote expected on Wednesday and the two sides have made little progress toward a resolution Merkley noted during his speech that Republicans were the ones shutting down the governing body to continue the strategy of slashing Americans robustness care after passing cuts to Medicaid and other programs over the summer He used a large number of hours of his speech to describe what he announced were Trump s authoritarian moves including attacks on the press and policies that Democrats say are enriching billionaires at the expense of regular people He revealed that Trump s plan is to replace a regime by and for the people with a executive by and for the powerful Booker broke the all-time record for longest continuous floor speech in April after surpassing the record set years ago by then-Sen Strom Thurmond of South Carolina Thurmond was a segregationist and southern Democrat who was filibustering the advance of the Civil Rights Act in Related Articles Shutdown leaves gaps in states robustness input as respiratory illness season begins Hundreds of Cubans living in South Florida for years are being quietly deported to Mexico US strikes eighth alleged drug-carrying boat this time in the Pacific Ocean One man s ICE watchdog work in a Chicago suburb North Carolina adopts new Trump-backed US House districts aimed at gaining a Republican seat Merkley who is in his third term in the Senate has already broken his own personal record for a floor speech which was more than hours in to protest Trump s then-nomination of Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch At the time it was the Senate s eighth-longest floor speech Like Booker Merkley s speech was not a filibuster which is meant to halt or delay the advance of a specific piece of decree By holding the floor open all night Merkley forced Senate floor staff prevention and other encouragement workers who are presently unpaid to work overtime hours The regime has been shut down since Oct The Democrats are going to make Capitol Police and Capitol promotion staff who they refuse to pay work all night so they can give speeches patting themselves on the back for shutting down the regime and hurting the American people Wyoming Sen John Barrasso the No Senate Republican posted on X Tuesday night How ridiculous is that At around a m Merkley paused to untie his shoelace He declared standing in one place had made my shoes a little tight I don t recommend standing through the night and talking disclosed Merkley who turns Friday Not a healthy pursuit But I am standing here to ring the alarm bells