Sen. Jeff Merkley delivers marathon Senate speech protesting Trump’s policies

Washington — Sen. Jeff Merkley, an Oregon Democrat, began delivering a marathon speech on the Senate floor Tuesday evening, speaking overnight and into the morning Wednesday in protest of President Trump’s policies. 

Merkley, 68, began speaking at 6:21 p.m. on Tuesday and railed against the Trump administration through the night for its deportation efforts, canceled federal programs, so-called weaponization of the Justice Department and efforts to send the National Guard into American cities — including Portland, Oregon.

“I’ve come to the Senate floor tonight to ring the alarm bells,” Merkley said at the outset of his speech. “We’re in the most perilous moment, the biggest threat to our republic since the Civil War. President Trump is shredding our Constitution.”

New Jersey Sens. Andy Kim and Cory Booker, along with Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, Washington Sen. Maria Cantwell, Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith, Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey and Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy, took turns asking Merkley extended questions late Tuesday and Wednesday morning, giving him brief breaks.

Portland, which Merkley represents, has been a target of Mr. Trump’s ire for years and again came into focus last month, when the president directed the Defense Department to coordinate the deployment of National Guard troops to the city. On Monday, a federal appeals court cleared the way for the administration to federalize and deploy members of the Oregon National Guard to Portland while a legal challenge moves forward.

“President Trump wants us to believe that Portland, Oregon, in my home state, is full of chaos and riots because if he can say to the American people that there are riots, he can say there’s a rebellion,” Merkley said. “And if there’s a rebellion, he can use that to strengthen his authoritarian grip on our nation. Pretend there are riots, or even try to provoke violence, and tighten his authoritarian grip.”

Merkley said Portlanders aren’t “taking the bait.” Instead, he said, “they are demonstrating with joy and whimsy.”

“They want to make it clear to the world that what Trump is saying about there being violent protests or a rebellion in Portland is just not true,” he added.

Merkley’s marathon address comes after Booker delivered a record-breaking speech on the Senate floor earlier this year, spanning more than 25 hours. The speech was also made in a protest against the Trump administration’s policies. In 2017, Merkley delivered one of the longest Senate floor speeches on record when he spoke for more than 15 hours to oppose the nomination of Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch.