WASHINGTON (AP) — Led by Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley, Democrats seized the Senate floor on Wednesday to protest President Donald Trump's presidency amid the government shutdown and push for Republicans to negotiate with them on expiring health subsidies.
Merkley spoke for more than 22 hours — from 6:21 p.m. Tuesday to 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday — pausing for lengthy questions from other Democratic senators.
His speech was one of the longest in Senate history,
just short of a similar speech in April by Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey. Booker, who was also protesting Trump, broke the record with a speech that lasted longer than 25 hours, surpassing a 1957 speech by Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina filibustering the advance of the Civil Rights Act.
Authoritarianism is not around the corner, Merkley said as he wrapped up his speech around 5 p.m., “it is here right now.”
The senator's talk-a-thon came as Democrats have forced the government shutdown over their demands to extend government health care subsidies, and as Republicans have refused to negotiate over the expiring tax credits until Democrats vote to reopen the government. Democrats have voted 11 times to keep it closed — with a 12th vote expected on Wednesday evening — and the two sides have made little progress toward a resolution.
Merkley said during his speech that Republicans were the ones shutting down the government “to continue the strategy of slashing Americans’ health care” after passing cuts to Medicaid and other programs over the summer.
He used several hours of his speech to describe what he said 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 said that Trump’s plan is to replace a government “by and for the people with a government by and for the powerful.”
Merkley also broke his own personal record for a floor speech, which was more than 15 hours in 2017 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 legislation.
By holding the floor open all night, Merkley forced Senate floor staff, security and other support workers who are currently unpaid to work overtime hours. The government has been shut down since Oct. 1.
“The Democrats are going to make Capitol Police and Capitol support staff — who they refuse to pay — work all night so they can give speeches patting themselves on the back for shutting down the government and hurting the American people,” Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, the No. 2 Senate Republican, posted on X Tuesday night. “How ridiculous is that?”
After Merkley's speech, Barrasso mocked the Democratic senator and called his speech “rubbish.”
Merkley appeared tired for much of the day, saying in the early afternoon that he was “starting to feel a little dazed” and later that “my stamina is getting a little shaky.” But he kept going until early evening.
At around 2:45 a.m., only a few hours in, Merkley paused to untie his shoelace. He said standing in one place had “made my shoes a little tight.”
“I don’t recommend standing through the night and talking,” said Merkley, who turns 69 on Friday. “Not a healthy pursuit. But I am standing here to ring the alarm bells.”
