WASHINGTON —

Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon has been speaking on the Senate floor for more than 12 hours after announcing he would protest what he called President Donald Trump’s “grave threats to democracy.”

He began his remarks at 6:24 p.m. ET Tuesday and was still speaking as of Wednesday morning.

“I’ve come to the Senate floor tonight to ring the alarm bells. We’re in the most perilous moment, the biggest threat to our republic since the Civil War. President Trump is shredding our Constitution,” Merkley said in his opening remarks.

The Democratic senator pointed to the Trump administration’s previous halting of research grants for universities in its battle over campus oversight as well as the recent indictments of several of the president’s political opponents as well as h

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