By Nolan D. McCaskill

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Democratic U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon on Wednesday was more than a half-day into a marathon speech opposing Republican President Donald Trump’s agenda on the 22nd day of a government shutdown.

“I want to repeat my main mission statement for being here through the night, and that’s to ring the alarm bells … at this authoritarian takeover and of this strategy of doing authoritarian bills in which families lose and billionaires win,” said Merkley, who began speaking shortly before 6:30 p.m. EDT (2230 GMT) on Tuesday.

Merkley is the third congressional Democrat this year to deliver a marathon speech. Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey spoke for more than 25 hours from March 31 to April 1, breaking a record held by Senator Strom Thurmond of

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