The shutdown of the American government apparatus entered its 22nd day on Wednesday, and is thus the second longest shutdown in modern times, according to CBS News.
To protest the Republicans' refusal to open the government apparatus, and to mark their opposition to President Trump, Jeff Merkley stood in the Senate's speaker's podium on Tuesday evening.
I have come to the Senate this evening to sound the alarm. We are in the most perilous of times, the greatest threat to our republic since the Civil War. President Trump is tearing apart our constitution, he began his speech at 0.21, Swedish time.
Warned about Portland
As Oregon's senator, Merkley represents Portland, the city that Trump and the Republicans have portrayed as a war zone, and he warns that the President will exploit it for his own purposes.
If he can tell the American people that there are riots there, he can say that it is a rebellion. And if there is a rebellion, he can use it to strengthen his authoritarian grip, warns Merkley.
The speech lasted for nearly 23 hours and was only interrupted by questions from Democrats who wanted to give their party colleague a little respite during his so-called filibuster.
Untied shoelaces
However, he still had a bit to go to reach the longest speech in Senate history. Senator Strom Thurmond spoke out in 1957 against a bill to give blacks the right to vote and spoke for 24 hours and 18 minutes – a marathon speech that was the longest until Democrat Cory Booker spoke for over 25 hours this spring to try to stop President Donald Trump's drastic policies.
The speaker is not allowed to sit down, nor go to the toilet, otherwise it is open to hold their speech as long as they want.
I'm about to collapse, but I have an hour left in me, said Merkley as he approached the end of his speech.
Merkley, who turns 69 on Friday, had then, according to USA Today, untied his shoelaces when his shoes had become too tight.
It felt a little better then. I would not recommend standing up and talking all night. It's not healthy, he said on Wednesday morning, local time.
