WATCH: Sen. Merkley delivers marathon speech overnight to protest Trump during lockdown

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats led by Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley took over the Senate floor Wednesday to protest President Donald Trump’s presidency amid a government shutdown and push Republicans to negotiate with them over the end of health benefits.

Watch the conclusion of Senator Merkley’s overnight speech in the video player above.

Merkley spoke for more than 22 hours — from 6:21 p.m. on Tuesday to 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday — pausing to answer lengthy questions from other Democratic senators.

He watches: Democratic Senator Merkley holds a press briefing after a marathon speech in the Senate about Trump

His speech was one of the longest in Senate history, just short of a similar speech by Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey in April. Booker, who was also protesting Trump, broke the record with a speech lasting more than 25 hours, surpassing a 1957 speech by Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina that blocked the progress of the Civil Rights Act.

Concluding his speech around 5 p.m., Merkley said that tyranny is not just around the corner: “It is here now.”

The senator’s speech came at a time when Democrats forced the government to close due to their demands to extend government health care subsidies, and since Republicans refused to negotiate the expiring tax breaks until Democrats vote to reopen the government. Democrats have voted 11 times to keep it closed — with a 12th vote expected Wednesday evening — and the two sides have made little progress toward a resolution.

Watch the Senate floor live in the video player below.

Merkley said during his speech that it was Republicans who shut down the government “to continue the strategy of cutting health care for Americans” after passing cuts to Medicaid and other programs over the summer.

He used several hours of his speech to describe what he said were Trump’s tyrannical moves, including attacks on the press and policies that Democrats say enrich billionaires at the expense of ordinary people. He said that Trump’s plan is to replace a government “of and for the people with a government of and for the powerful.”

Merkley also broke his personal speech record, which was more than 15 hours in 2017 in protest of Trump’s nomination of then-Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch. At the time, it was the eighth-longest speech in the Senate.

Like Booker, Merkley’s speech was not a filibuster, which is meant to stop or delay the progress of a particular piece of legislation.

By keeping the chamber open all night, Merkley forced Senate chamber staff, security and other support workers who are not currently being paid to work overtime. The government has been closed since October 1.

He watches: “We are determined to defend our democracy,” says the No Kings protest organizer.

“Democrats will make Capitol Police and Capitol support staff — who refuse to pay them — work through the night so they can give speeches while patting themselves on the back for shutting down the government and hurting the American people,” Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, posted on X on Tuesday night. “How ridiculous is this?”

After Merkley’s speech, Barrasso mocked the Democratic senator and called his speech “nonsense.”

Merkley seemed tired most of the day, and said in the early afternoon that he “started feeling a little dizzy” and then “my stamina got a little shaky.” But he continued walking until early evening.

He watches: Trump says at the Senate Republican luncheon: “We will not be blackmailed” into ending the shutdown

At about 2:45 a.m., just a few hours later, Merkley stopped to unlace his shoes. Standing in one place “made my shoes a little tight,” he said.

“I don’t advise standing up all night and talking,” said Merkley, who turns 69 on Friday. “It is not a healthy pursuit. But I stand here ringing alarm bells.”