Democratic senator’s floor speech condemning Trump enters 19th hour

<p>Jeff Merkley of Oregon gives address to make case that president is ‘violating the law’ through authoritarianism</p><ul><li><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2025/oct/22/donald-trump-ice-immigration-shutdown-courts-nato-us-politics-live-news-updates">US politics live – latest updates</a></p></li></ul><p>Jeff Merkley, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/oregon">Oregon</a>’s Democratic senator, is giving a marathon speech on the Senate floor that will soon enter its 19th hour to make the case that Donald Trump is acting as an authoritarian, including by deploying the military into his home town of Portland.</p><p>The 68-year-old senator began speaking around 6.20pm on Tuesday evening and continued with few interruptions into Wednesday morning. Standing continuously on the Senate floor alongside placards that read “authoritarianism is here now!” and “Trump is violating the law”, Merkley has paused only to take questions from fellow Democratic senators.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/22/senator-jeff-merkley-floor-speech-trump">Continue reading...</a>