Merkley Delays Funding Vote With Marathon Speech

Sen. Jeff Merkley staged a marathon Senate floor speech beginning the evening of Oct. 21, speaking continuously from about 6:20–6:30 p.m. into the following day — lasting reported 18–22 hours — to protest what he called President Trump’s “authoritarianism” and “grave threats to democracy.” He at times read from the book How Democracies Die and used posters, and accused the administration of weaponizing the Justice Department, deploying federal agents and Guard troops in Portland, attacking the free press and eroding due process. By holding the floor and occasionally yielding briefly to colleagues, Merkley delayed Senate business and prevented a vote on a GOP short-term funding bill as the government shutdown entered its third/fourth week, a tactic Democrats said would pressure Republicans to negotiate over health-care and subsidy provisions. Republicans criticized the speech as theatrical and said it forced unpaid Capitol staff to work overnight.