By Nolan D. McCaskill
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Democratic U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon on Wednesday was more than a half-day into a marathon speech opposing Republican President Donald Trump’s agenda on the 22nd day of a government shutdown.
“I want to repeat my main mission statement for being here through the night, and that’s to ring the alarm bells … at this authoritarian takeover and of this strategy of doing authoritarian bills in which families lose and billionaires win,” said Merkley, who began speaking shortly before 6:30 p.m. EDT (2230 GMT) on Tuesday.
Merkley is the third congressional Democrat this year to deliver a marathon speech. Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey spoke for more than 25 hours from March 31 to April 1, breaking a record held by Senator Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, who filibustered the Civil Rights Act of 1957 for more than 24 hours. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York spoke on the House floor for nearly nine hours on July 3 to delay passage of Republicans’ sweeping tax-cut and spending bill, breaking the record of former Republican leader Kevin McCarthy of California, who spoke for more than eight hours in 2021.
Democrats in Washington have little power, with Republicans holding majorities in the House of Representatives and Senate. But Senate Democrats and the House Democratic leader are able to hold the floor for as long as they can speak to call attention to issues and stall the chamber’s work. Senate Democrats have also repeatedly used the chamber’s 60-vote threshold to block passage of a stopgap funding bill passed by House Republicans — and one Democrat — on September 19.
(Reporting by Nolan D. McCaskill in Washington; Editing by Scott Malone and Matthew Lewis)
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