Washington– WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon delivers a marathon speech on the Senate floor to protest President Donald Trump’s “tyrannical grip on the country” amid… Government shutdown.
Merkley began speaking at 6:21 p.m. Tuesday evening, and continued into Wednesday afternoon, pausing to answer increasingly lengthy questions from other Democratic senators. It was not clear how long he would last, or whether he would be able to approach the record-breaking 25-hour speech that his colleague, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, delivered in April. Booker was also protesting Trump.
“I was starting to feel a little dizzy after all those hours on the ground,” Merkley said after about 18 hours of standing and talking.
The senator’s conversation comes at a time when Democrats forced the government to shut down due to their demands to extend government health care subsidies, and as Republicans refused to negotiate expiring tax breaks until Democrats vote to reopen the government. Democrats have voted 11 times to keep it closed — with a 12th vote expected on Wednesday — and the two sides have made little progress toward a resolution.
Merkley said during his speech that it was Republicans who shut down the government “to continue the strategy of cutting health care for Americans” 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 tyrannical moves, including attacks on the press and policies that Democrats say enrich billionaires at the expense of ordinary people. He said that Trump’s plan is to replace a government “of and for the people with a government of and for the powerful.”
Poker He broke the all-time record for the longest continuous speech in April after surpassing the record set by Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina 68 years ago. Thurmond was a segregationist and Southern Democrat Disable progress Of the Civil Rights Act of 1957.
Merkley has already broken his own personal record for giving a 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 eighth-longest speech in the Senate.
Like Booker, Merkley’s speech was not a filibuster, which is meant to stop or delay the progress of a particular piece of legislation.
By keeping the chamber open all night, Merkley forced Senate chamber staff, security and other support workers who are not currently being paid to work overtime. The government has been closed since October 1.
“Democrats will make Capitol Police and Capitol support staff — who refuse to pay them — work through the night so they can give speeches while patting themselves on the back for shutting down the government and hurting the American people,” Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, posted on X on Tuesday night. “How ridiculous is this?”
At approximately 2:45 a.m., Merkley stopped to unlace his shoes. Standing in one place “made my shoes a little tight,” he said.
“I don’t advise standing up all night and talking,” said Merkley, who turns 69 on Friday. “It’s not a healthy pursuit. But I’m standing here ringing the alarm bells.”