Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., launched into a marathon overnight speech railing against President Donald Trump.
"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. AT Wednesday morning, nearly 12 hours after the post, the senator was still continuing his speech.
Merkley later added that he was protesting against the president "dragging us further into authoritarianism."
5 TIMES DEMOCRATS BLASTED ICE WITH HARSH RHETORIC
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.
"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.
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.
Mekley 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.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment.
