WASHINGTON — Add a marathon Senate floor protest to the paralysis gripping Washington as a partial government shutdown enters its fourth week.

Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., pulled an all-nighter on the Senate floor that began early Tuesday evening, putting floor business on hold while railing against President Donald Trump and his agenda.

The marathon speech, which began not long after 6 p.m., had lasted for more than 17 hours and was still proceeding at midday Wednesday. While more Democrats have joined Merkley on the floor in recent hours to lend their support, the Oregonian waged a lonely overnight crusade against the Trump administration.

Among his targets were the president’s “big, beautiful bill” featuring major tax and spending cuts, the immigration enforcement crackdown, and the deployment of the National Guard in American cities.

“I came to the Senate floor tonight to ring the alarm bells,” Merkley said as he began the speech. “We’re in the most perilous moment, the biggest threat to our republic since the Civil War. President Trump is shredding our Constitution.”

Merkley’s speech is not technically considered a filibuster because he was not trying to block any specific nominee or piece of legislation.

But the talkathon forced Senate leaders to delay a scheduled 1 p.m. vote on the House-passed continuing resolution that would end the partial shutdown. Under Senate rules, a senator who is recognized by the presiding officer can, except for certain situations, hold the floor for as long as he or she can remain standing and speaking in the chamber.

The outcome of the CR vote, however, is virtually preordained. The Senate has already blocked the measure 11 times and the 12th time was expected to be no different. Democrats are insisting on a bipartisan deal to extend expiring health insurance subsidies as a condition for ending the shutdown.

And the GOP majority needs at least seven Democrats to join them because 60 votes are required to advance most legislation under Senate rules. In the case of the CR, they need at least eight Democrats because Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., opposes the measure.

Record-breaking territory?

Merkley’s speech marked the latest floor protest waged by Democrats to oppose Trump’s policies this year.

Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., broke the record last spring for delivering the longest floor speech in Senate history, which clocked in at 25 hours and 4 minutes. The previous record was held by the late South Carolina Sen. Strom Thurmond, the Dixiecrat-turned-Republican and foe of the Civil Rights Act who filibustered for 24 hours and 18 minutes in 1957.

Booker provided an assist to Merkley on Wednesday by joining him on the floor to continue the dialogue, as did other Democrats such as Christopher S. Murphy of Connecticut and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.

Asked about Merkley’s speech on Wednesday, Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., said she thinks her party has been “galvanized by the concerns that Americans have about what Trump is doing to the fundamental institutions of our democracy” following the recent “No Kings” rallies held in cities across the country this past weekend.

Republicans, meanwhile, were looking to dial up the pressure on Democrats to end the shutdown. GOP leaders plan to hold a vote on legislation offered by Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., that aims to pay troops and certain civilian federal employees who are required to work during the shutdown.

Those workers would typically be denied pay until after the shutdown is over, although the Trump administration has already diverted Pentagon research and development funds to pay the troops this month without congressional approval in a legally untested budget maneuver.

Democrats have criticized the bill and plan to offer an alternative measure they say would also extend pay to federal employees who have been furloughed as a result of the funding lapse. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., said Wednesday that the Democratic-backed plan should be released later in the day.

With a procedural vote on Johnson’s bill currently slated for Thursday, it’s not yet clear what plan Democrats have to attempt to secure consideration of their emerging counterproposal. It could be offered as an amendment to Johnson’s bill or as stand-alone legislation.

“I will answer that question when I know it,” Senate Appropriations ranking Democrat Patty Murray of Washington said.

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