Dem senator continues marathon floor speech slamming Trump's 'grave threats to democracy'

close

Video

WATCH LIVE: Dem senator launches marathon overnight floor speech to protest Trump

Sen. Merkley speaks on the Senate floor to protest President Trump as the government shutdown enters its third week.

Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., railed against President Donald Trump in a marathon overnight speech starting on Tuesday evening and continuing into Wednesday morning.

"I’m holding the Senate floor to protest Trump’s grave threats to democracy. We cannot pretend this is normal," Merkley wrote on Tuesday night on X. 

By 6:00 a.m. on Wednesday morning, nearly 12 hours after the post, the senator was still continuing his speech. As of 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, the senator was still refusing to stop, surpassing 15 and a half hours.

Merkley later added that he was protesting against the president "dragging us further into authoritarianism."

5 TIMES DEMOCRATS BLASTED ICE WITH HARSH RHETORIC

Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., launched into an overnight marathon speech as a protest against President Donald Trump. (Screenshot)

The White House seemed to dismiss the Democrat's claims against the president.

"Democrats will do anything except vote to open the government. A useless overnight floor speech that no one watched will do nothing to help the millions of Americans who are missing paychecks, losing out on important benefits, or being otherwise harmed by the Democrat’s decision to shut down the government over free health care for illegal aliens," White House deputy press secretary Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital. 

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., praised Merkley, thanking him "for standing up for the American people." Several other Democrats joined in applauding the senator, including Sens. Andy Kim, D-N.J., Tina Smith, D-Minn., and Chris Van Hollen, D-Md. 

On Wednesday morning, Democrats offered more than verbal support as they helped prolong the speech by asking questions, giving Merkley brief opportunities to pause. This is something they also did in April when Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., delivered a record-breaking speech that lasted for more than 25 hours.

A protester reacts as law enforcement officers deployed smoke grenades to disperse people gathered outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) headquarters in south Portland, Ore., Oct. 5, 2025.  (Carlos Barria/Reuters)

REPUBLICANS READY TO SUPPORT TRUMP'S MOVE TO SKIRT CONGRESS IN DC CRIME CRACKDOWN

"Trump's plan is to replace the government by and for the people with government by and for the powerful," Merkley remarked during his speech.

Merkley also received some criticism from his colleagues on the other side of the aisle. Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., slammed Merkley's speech as a stunt.

"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. How ridiculous is that?"

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, also weighed in and told reporters, calling the speech "performance art" and a "meaningless gesture."

"He's trying to put on a show for his base, back home, his political base. It means nothing in terms of the functioning of the Senate or trying to work out some of the problems that we have, or reopening the government," Cornyn said.

Video

Over the course of the speech, Merkley hurled a wide array of accusations against Trump and his administration, as well as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). He also claimed that the government was trying to "fake a riot" outside an ICE facility in Portland, Ore., in order to expand its own power. 

At one point, Merkley spoke specifically about a protester who was hit with pepper spray during an anti-ICE protest. The senator said that the woman was asked to get out of ICE agents' way and complied but was still sprayed with the riot control substance.

Merkley has held similar marathon speeches before. In 2017, he spoke for 15 hours and 28 minutes against the nomination of now-Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch. He touched on this in his overnight address, saying that Gorsuch's nomination represented "the first time a U.S. Supreme Court vacancy has been stolen from one president and delivered to the next."

Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., talks to members of the press after speaking all night on the Senate floor in opposition to U.S. Supreme Court Nominee Neil Gorsuch on April 5, 2017, at the Capitol building in Washington, D.C.  (Zach Gibson/Getty Images)

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

In 2016, following the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, then-President Barack Obama appointed Merrick Garland, who would later serve as attorney general under President Joe Biden. However, Senate Republicans refused to hold hearings for Garland, leading to his nomination expiring in January 2017.

"The GOP had trampled on a basic Democratic norm, in effect, stealing a Supreme Court seat and gotten away with it," Merkley said at around 7:00 a.m. on Wednesday, referring to Gorsuch.

As Merkley broke his 2017 record, the U.S. government was working on one of its own as it entered day 22 of the shutdown. The longest government shutdown in U.S. history lasted 35 and occurred during Trump's first term, starting in December 2018 and ending in January 2019.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.