Democratic Sen. Merkley ends floor speech protesting Trump at 22 hours and 36 minutes

After more than 22 hours, Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley on Wednesday ended his marathon floor speech warning about the dangers of authoritarianism he says the Trump administration poses

He ended his speech at 5 p.m. It lasted 22 hours and 36 minutes, falling short of fellow Democratic Sen. Cory Booker’s record of 25 hours and 5 minutes earlier this year. But he did beat the record for the longest floor speech given by a senator from Oregon. In 1953, independent Sen. Wayne Morse set that record at 22 hours and 26 minutes.

He received applause from those in the chamber, including a number of Democrats who were seated in the chamber.

Government shutdown updates

Earlier, Merkley said he was “on the verge of falling over” as he spoke, approaching his 22nd hour.

The 68-year-old Merkley was clearly beginning to fatigue Wednesday afternoon.

At times he gripped chairs and desks for support or paced lightly back and forth. But he has remained standing since his speech began at 6:24 p.m. Tuesday. And he’s been speaking non-stop except for intermissions when Democratic senators who came to the floor asked him questions.

Merkley said in a news conference after he had concluded that he decided to speak in the middle of the week “after the vibe had been generated” by the No Kings rallies over the weekend.

“I didn’t want the momentum of that to die down,” he said.

“I felt so it was so important at this moment of time to amplify the extraordinary moment we are in of an aggressive authoritarian takeover of our republic,” he said.

For the majority of the speech, Merkley stood next to a sign that says “Ring the alarm bells: Authoritarianism is here now!” His speech has been focused on warning against authoritarianism in the Trump administration.

“If we do not confront tyranny in its first year and if we do not find a way to have a strong rebuttal in the next election than it becomes entrenched,” he said. “And it is our responsibility, our oath to the Constitution to not let that happen.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer followed Merkley and applauded his efforts.

Immediately after Schumer’s brief remarks, Republican Whip John Barrasso took to the floor to slam Merkley for the effort.

“I come to the Senate floor today to ask a simple question: What did Democrats actually accomplish?” Barrasso said. “The government is still closed, Capitol Police officers and Senate support staffers were here for the entire 22 hours are still not getting paid.”

Senate floor staff was required to stay overnight to run the floor. Those individuals are not currently being paid during the government shutdown.

The senator said he didn’t eat, drink water or take a bathroom break during the speech.

“It is about dehydration,” he said, telling reporters he had his last bite of food and drink on Monday morning.

“I wasn’t sure it was going to work out,” he said. “And I said, ‘I hope I am not fasting for no reason.’ I love to eat.”

“The dehydration works pretty well,” he added, explaining that he at one point he felt lightheaded on the floor.

The shutdown entered its 22nd day on Wednesday with no movement toward a deal that would fund the government.

The Senate could vote for the 12th time on the short-term, clean funding bill that was passed by the House, but no votes can be called as long as Merkley holds the floor.

All 11 previous votes on the continuing resolution have failed.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer says Trump shouldn’t leave on his Asia trip on Friday without first negotiating with Democrats on funding, but Trump said he won’t meet with Democratic leadership until the government is reopened.

ABC News’ Justin Gomez and Lauren Peller contributed to this report.