Sen. Jeff Merkley (D–Ore.) took to the Senate floor on Tuesday around 6:30 p.m. to "ring the alarm" on what he described as President Donald Trump's "tightening authoritarian grip on the country." Over the course of his nearly 23-hour speech—the second-longest in Senate history—Merkley accused the Trump administration of undermining checks and balances, attacking free speech and the press, politicizing the Justice Department, and using the military to suppress dissent.
Wrapping up his speech Wednesday evening, Merkley stated: "The president believes he is the king of this country and he can control everything, regardless of what the law says." These comments come in the wake of last weekend's "No Kings" protests and an appeals court decision from earlier this week that will allow Trump to deploy the National Guard to Portland, Oregon.
