Merkley holds Senate floor for more than 15 hours to protest Gorsuch

Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., took to the Senate floor a few minutes before 7 p.m. Tuesday night to protest President Trump’s nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch to the U.S. Supreme Court, vowing to speak “as long as I’m able.”

He did so for more than 15 hours, yielding the floor shortly after 10 a.m. Wednesday.

Merkley mounted his demonstration in response to Republicans who refused to consider former President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland, following the February 2016 death of Justice Antonin Scalia.

“The majority team in this chamber decided to steal a Supreme Court seat,” he said. “Such a theft has never, ever happened in the history of our nation.”

Republicans argued that neither party should fill a Supreme Court vacancy that opened up during an election year.

“It was a warfare tactic of partisanship,” Merkley said. “It was an end justifies the means, even if the means violates the core premise of the Constitution.”

In January, after Trump announced Gorsuch as his Supreme Court nominee, Merkley released a scathing statement promising to “do everything in my power to stand up against this assault on the Court.”

“This is a stolen seat being filled by an illegitimate and extreme nominee,” Merkley’s statement said. “This is the first time in American history that one party has blockaded a nominee for almost a year in order to deliver a seat to a president of their own party. If this tactic is rewarded rather than resisted, it will set a dangerous new precedent in American governance.”

On the Senate floor, Merkley highlighted several issues Democrats have raised about Gorsuch, including the Colorado jurist’s history of siding with corporations and his “extreme, far-right, anti-women, anti-worker record.”

Merkley also argued that until the investigation into the Trump campaign’s possible ties to Russia is complete, a vote on Gorsuch is premature.

The Oregon senator even said Trump should withdraw the Gorsuch nomination and renominate Garland.

Merkley’s staff streamed live video of his speech on Facebook as fellow Democrats praised his endurance.

“I’m here on the floor at 4:20 in the morning, because so much is at stake,” Merkley said.

After finishing, Merkley thanked those who had to stay up all night with him.

Merkley’s speech, though, did not delay Wednesday’s scheduled debate on Gorsuch or the votes expected Thursday and Friday.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he is willing to use the so-called “nuclear option” to sidestep a threatened Democratic filibuster.

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