WASHINGTON (AP) — Led by Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley, Democrats took over the Senate floor Wednesday to protest President Donald Trump’s presidency amid the government shutdown and urge Republicans to negotiate with them over expiring health care subsidies.
Merkley spoke for more than 22 hours — from 6:21 p.m. Tuesday to 5 p.m. Wednesday — pausing to take lengthy questions from other Democratic senators. His speech was one of the longest in Senate history, just ahead of a similar speech in April by Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey.
Booker, who also protested against Trump, broke the record for the longest continuous speech in the Senate by delivering more than 25 hours, surpassing a 1957 speech by Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina. Thurmond hindered the advancement of the Civil Rights Act.
The senator’s debate came as Democrats forced the government shutdown over their demands to expand federal health care subsidies and Republicans refused to negotiate the expiring tax credits until Democrats voted to reopen the government.
Democrats have voted to keep the process closed 12 times – most recently on Wednesday night – and both sides have made little progress toward a resolution.
Merkley said on the Senate floor that Republicans were the ones 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 Trump’s authoritarian moves, including attacks on the press and policies that Democrats say enrich billionaires at the expense of ordinary people. He said Trump’s plan was to replace a government “of and for the people with a government of and for the powerful.”
As he concluded his speech, Merkley said that authoritarianism is “not just around the corner” but is “here now.”
Merkley gave another long speech in 2017, protesting for more than 15 hours against Trump’s then-appointment of Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch. Like Booker, Merkley’s speech was not a filibuster intended to halt or delay the progress of a particular piece of legislation.
By keeping the chamber open overnight, Merkley forced Senate staff, security and other support staff who are currently unpaid to work overtime. The government has been closed since October 1st.
“Democrats are going to keep Capitol Police and Capitol support staff — who they don’t want to pay — working 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 Republican in the Senate, posted on X Tuesday night. “How ridiculous Is that?”
Immediately after Merkley’s speech, Barrasso mocked the Democratic senator and called his speech “garbage.”
Merkley seemed tired most of the day, saying in the early afternoon that he was “starting to feel a little light-headed” and later that “my stamina was starting to waver a little bit.” But he continued until early evening.
He said afterwards that he was able to carry on without a bathroom break or food because of “dehydration” and not having eaten anything beforehand.
At about 2:45 a.m., just a few hours later, Merkley paused to untie his shoelace. He said standing in one spot “made my shoes a little tight.”
“I don’t recommend sitting through the night talking,” said Merkley, who turns 69 on Friday. “Not a healthy thing to do. But I stand here to sound the alarm bells.”
