WASHINGTON – Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley is the latest Democrat to take a protracted stand against President Donald Trump, holding a marathon speech on the Senate floor that has stretched for over 20 hours amid an ongoing federal government shutdown.
Merkley, who took the floor at 6:21 p.m. on Oct. 21, knocked the Trump administration’s policies and actions, which he argued are dragging the country into authoritarianism.
“I don’t believe there’s a single senator here in the United States Senate who wants to see freedom crushed and authoritarian rule established here in the United States of America … Our founders did not want the president to be a king,” he said.
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His speech comes as Republicans and Democrats have been unable to strike a funding deal to reopen the government. Democrats have made healthcare the focus of their demands, urging Republicans to extend the Affordable Care Act subsidies, which are set to expire at the end of December.
Sen. Cory Booker, D-New Jersey, went viral earlier this year when he gave the longest-ever speech on the Senate floor, which lasted 25 hours and five minutes. Booker beat the record set by the late South Carolina Sen. Strom Thurmond, a Democrat-turned-Republican, who gave a speech on the Senate floor lasting 24 hours and 18 minutes for his filibuster against the 1957 Civil Rights Act.
If Merkley continues his talk-a-thon past 7:26 p.m. on Oct. 22, he could officially beat Booker’s record.
Who is Jeff Merkley?
Merkley, 68, was first elected to the Senate in 2008 and has held onto his seat ever since. He is up for reelection in 2026.
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Before serving in Congress, Merkley served in the Oregon House of Representatives from 1999 to 2009 and was speaker of the House from 2007 to 2009. He previously worked as a national security analyst for the Pentagon and the Congressional Budget Office, executive director of the nonprofit Habitat for Humanity’s Portland chapter and president of the World Affairs Council of Oregon.
He’s a strong proponent of LGBTQ+ rights and expanding healthcare access. In April, he teamed up with Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisconsin, Booker and Congressional Equality Caucus Chair Rep. Mark Takano, D-California, to reintroduce the Equality Act, a bill aimed at prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation in employment, housing, public accommodations and other settings.
He fiercely championed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, a landmark piece of legislation under the Obama administration.
Merkley was the first senator to endorse progressive firebrand Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential bid, writing in a New York Times op-ed at the time that, “As we look toward the next administration, there is far more work to do. We need urgency. We need big ideas. We need to rethink the status quo.”
A recent $3 million donation to back GOP candidates is the largest single contribution by an individual in state history.
Phil Knight, billionaire co-founder of Nike, sits at an event at the Nike campus in Beaverton in 2023. Knight is a prolific donor to Republican candidates in Oregon.
Jonathan Levinson / OPB
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Oregon’s richest man is once again setting political giving records with his checkbook.
Nike co-founder Phil Knight last month sent $3 million to a political committee focused on electing more Republicans to the state Legislature. That committee, Bring Balance to Salem, has been increasingly important to the GOP’s aim of winning back influence in the state over the last two election cycles.
The check marks the largest single donation ever by an individual political donor in Oregon. And it brings Knight’s total giving to Bring Balance to Salem up to $9 million over the last three years.
With the donation, first reported by the Oregon Journalism Project, Knight is signaling once again that he is fed up with Democratic dominance in Oregon. While the billionaire used to donate to members of both parties — including sending $250,000 to Democratic Gov. John Kitzhaber’s 2014 reelection bid — his largesse has been squarely focused on the GOP in recent years.
In 2022, Knight spent more than $5 million supporting the two chief candidates running against Democrat Tina Kotek in the governor’s race. In a rare interview that year, Knight told the New York Times he is “an anti-Tina person,” and spoke of being opposed to drug decriminalization and other policies Oregon had enacted.
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Knight’s money didn’t dictate the outcome of the election. Kotek defeated both Republican Christine Drazan and nonaffiliated candidate Betsy Johnson that year. Drazan is once again seeking the state’s highest elected office.
Four years before, in 2018, $2.5 million that Knight spent supporting GOP gubernatorial candidate Knute Buehler wasn’t enough to lift him over Democrat Kate Brown either.
Knight has had slightly more success with Bring Balance to Salem, the PAC dedicated to increasing GOP influence in the statehouse. The committee was spearheaded in 2021 by Greg Walden, a former Republican congressman from Hood River who helped run GOP races nationally while in office.
Aided by $2 million from Knight during the 2022 election, Republicans clawed back some seats in the state House and Senate, eliminating Democratic supermajorities. While progress, the result was not as robust as Republican strategists had believed was possible.
The 2024 election was worse for the party. Despite a war chest for Walden’s PAC that included $4 million from Knight, the GOP lost one seat in both the House and Senate, once again falling to superminority status in both chambers.
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Mid-term elections are often unkind to the party that holds power in Washington, D.C., and many prognosticators believe Republicans will face headwinds next year. Knight’s latest check signals he is ready to spend big to counteract that difficulty locally.
History suggests Knight will also intervene in next year’s governor’s race, in which Kotek is widely expected to seek reelection. Despite criticisms on both sides of the aisle, most political observers expect her to prevail.
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Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek talks about climate executive order
The executive order, announced on Nov. 19, is intended to align agencies toward meeting Oregon’s clean energy goals.
Oregon is in a fuel emergency following a shutdown of the Olympic Pipeline, Gov. Tina Kotek declared Nov. 24.
The pipeline provides more than 90% of the fuel used for Oregon’s transportation and was shut down Nov. 17, Kotek said.
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Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson issued an emergency declaration because of the leak on Nov. 19. The declaration activated an emergency management plan and temporarily lifted some regulations for commercial vehicles bringing jet fuel to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
A leak in the pipeline was found during regular maintenance in Washington on Nov. 11, Ferguson said in the declaration.
Oregon does not anticipate shortages to the fuel supply or jet fuel impacts at Oregon’s airports, but prices at the gas pump could increase for Oregonian drivers due to “higher-cost delivery methods,” an FAQ for Kotek’s order said.
The FAQ said it was unknown when the pipeline’s service would be restored.
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The order directs the Oregon Department of Emergency Management to use an emergency plan to direct and determine how agencies can respond.
The Oregon Department of Energy will communicate updates and advice to the state and fuel industry. ODOE will follow the Oregon Fuel Action Plan, which gives guidance for outages or impacts to the fuel supply.
Commercial vehicles “providing direct assistance supporting emergency relief efforts” will get regulatory support from the Oregon Department of Transportation, and the order directs the department to provide waivers to “state-regulated hours-of service requirements.”
The order is in effect for 30 days, but Kotek can extend or end it early.
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Anastasia Mason covers state government for the Statesman Journal. Reach her at acmason@statesmanjournal.com or 971-208-5615.
Just 11 games into his stint as the team’s offensive coordinator, the Las Vegas Raiders have decided to part ways with Chip Kelly.
The Raiders offense is averaging just 15.0 points per game this season, tied for last in the NFL. They hold a 2-9 record after losing to the Cleveland Browns on Sunday.
The former Oregon Ducks head coach was hired by Las Vegas in February after helping lead the Ohio State Buckeyes to the 2025 national title. His rushing scheme during the Buckeye’s College Football Playoff was lauded, with the Raiders expecting big things from Kelly and 2025 No. 4 overall pick, running back Ashton Jeanty.
The production simply hasn’t been there, as Jeanty has just a single 100-yard game this season and is averaging 3.7 yards per carry. He’s scored nearly as many touchdowns in the receiving game (three) as on the ground (four).
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The Raiders also traded for former Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith, pairing him with newly-hired head coach Pete Carroll and Kelly. Thus far, he leads the league in interceptions with 13, having thrown just 12 touchdown passes despite having one of the best tight ends in the NFL in Brock Bowers as his go-to target.
At the end of the day, the blame falls on Kelly, who simply couldn’t coax enough points out of this group as they embarked on an extremely disappointing season.
Kelly rose to prominence in the football world during his tenure as the Ducks’ head coach from 2009 to 2012. He led them to the 2011 national championship, where they narrowly lost to the Auburn Tigers, 22-19.
He parlayed his success at Oregon into landing his first head coaching gig in the NFL with the Philadelphia Eagles, leading them to a 10-win season and a playoff berth in his debut campaign in 2013. But his quick, no-huddle offense quickly fell out of style in the league, and he was fired in 2015. He was soon hired by the San Francisco 49ers before being fired after just one season and a dismal 2-14 record.
Now, after less than 12 months on the job with the Raiders, Kelly is once again on the offensive coordinator or head coach job market.
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