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Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, delivered a 22-hour marathon speech on the Senate floor beginning on Tuesday evening, holding the floor overnight and into the day Wednesday in protest of President Trump’s policies. The senator’s remarks also came amid a prolonged budget standoff between Democrats and Republicans that has kept the government partially shut down for four weeks.

Merkley, 68, began speaking at 6:21 p.m. on Tuesday and continued until 4:58 p.m. Wednesday, standing in front of a lectern at his desk for the entirety of the time.  He said his filibuster, as the procedural tactic is known, was an effort to sound the alarm on both the government shutdown and Trump, in his view, dragging the country “further into authoritarianism.”  Merkley said: “Trump’s plan is to replace government by and for the people with government by and for the powerful .. This is an incredible threat to our nation, to the entire vision of our Constitution, 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.”

The Senator from Oregon focused his remarks on what he described as a grave threat to American democracy — citing deportation efforts, terminated federal programs, the politicization of the Justice Department, and the deployment of the National Guard in U.S. cities.  He said:  “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’s home city of Portland has long been a focal point of tension between Trump and Democratic officials. The dispute reignited recently when Trump ordered the Defense Department to coordinate the deployment of National Guard troops to Portland. A federal appeals court on Monday cleared the way for that move to proceed while legal challenges play out, allowing members of the Oregon National Guard to be federalized and sent to the city.  Merkley said during his speech that “President Trump wants us to believe that Portland, Oregon, in my home state, is full of chaos and riots because if he can say to the American people that there are riots, he can say there’s a rebellion. And if there’s a rebellion, he can use that to strengthen his authoritarian grip on our nation. Pretend there are riots, or even try to provoke violence, and tighten his authoritarian grip.”  He went on to describe Portland residents as peaceful in their demonstrations, and said they are not “taking the bait” but are instead “demonstrating with joy and whimsy. They want to make it clear to the world that what Trump is saying about there being violent protests or a rebellion in Portland is just not true.”

Over the course of the night, several of Merkley’s Democratic colleagues joined him on the floor, offering extended questions that allowed him short pauses while keeping the speech continuous. His address, one of the longest seen in the Senate in recent years, reflected his deep frustration with the current political climate and the direction of the Trump administration.

Merkley’s overnight address followed a string of marathon speeches by Democrats protesting Trump-era policies. Earlier this year, Sen. Cory Booker set a Senate record with a speech lasting over 25 hours, also aimed at calling out the administration’s actions. Merkley himself is no stranger to such efforts; in 2017, he spoke for more than 15 hours in an unsuccessful attempt to block the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch.

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North Carolina’s Republican-controlled legislature has approved a new congressional map expected to strengthen the GOP’s hold on the U.S. House, making the state the latest battleground in a broader national redistricting effort aimed at securing Republican advantages ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

The state House passed the measure Wednesday by a 66–48 vote, one day after the Senate’s approval, finalizing a plan that could give Republicans an additional congressional seat. Under the new map, the 1st Congressional District—held by Democrat Don Davis and one of the few competitive seats in the state—would become more favorable to Republicans by incorporating portions of GOP Rep. Greg Murphy’s neighboring 3rd District. Davis criticized the move, saying, “This new congressional map is beyond the pale,” and pointed out that “in the 2024 election with record voter turnout, NC’s First Congressional District elected both President Trump and me.”

Republicans currently control 10 of North Carolina’s 14 House seats, and GOP leaders say the new lines could help them secure 11. Senate leader Phil Berger claimed the new map “respects the will of the North Carolina voters who sent President Trump to the White House three times.”  In addition, State Sen. Ralph Hise, who helped draft the proposal, said during a committee hearing, “The motivation behind this redraw is simple and singular: drawing new map that will bring an additional Republican seat to the North Carolina Congressional delegation.”

The move in North Carolina mirrors a broader GOP-led strategy seen across the country. Earlier this year, Texas Republicans pushed through a new map designed to flip up to five Democratic seats, while Missouri lawmakers redrew boundaries to make Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver’s Kansas City-area district more conservative. Similar redistricting efforts are being considered in Kansas, Indiana, and Ohio—where new lines are mandated after a previous map passed without bipartisan support.

The redistricting effort has provoked sharp backlash from Democrats and voting rights advocates, who accuse the GOP of deliberately diluting the influence of minority communities. Democratic Gov. Josh Stein, whose veto power does not extend to redistricting measures, said in a video statement: “If I did have that power, I assure you I would veto this map. Republican legislative leaders are abusing their power to take away yours. They’re afraid they will lose in the midterms and afraid to say no to the President, so they’ve turned their backs on you to silence your vote in the 2026 election.”  Rep. Suzan DelBene, chair of the House Democratic campaign arm, addedd the map “was clearly drawn to dilute the voting power of Black voters by dismantling the Black Belt to stop North Carolinians from holding Trump and House Republicans accountable for ignoring the needs of hardworking Americans.”

Despite the protests, the map is now set to take effect for the 2026 elections, when Republicans hope to maintain their narrow House majority.

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Plans for a potential summit between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin appear to be off the table for now, despite Trump’s recent claim that the two leaders would soon meet in Budapest to discuss the ongoing war in Ukraine.

A senior White House official confirmed Tuesday that “there are no plans for President Trump to meet with President Putin in the immediate future,” effectively halting speculation of a meeting in the coming weeks. Trump had told reporters last Thursday that he expected to sit down with Putin “within two weeks or so,” suggesting that senior advisers from both nations would hold preliminary discussions first. Those early talks began on Monday when Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov by phone.

According to the White House, that conversation went well enough that no in-person meeting between the two diplomats is currently planned.  The official said that “Secretary Rubio and Foreign Minister Lavrov had a productive call. Therefore, an additional in person meeting between the Secretary and Foreign Minister is not necessary, and there are no plans for President Trump to meet with President Putin in the immediate future.”

A second White House source described the call as “productive” but added that Trump decided to “press pause” after being briefed, believing both sides were not yet prepared to engage in serious peace negotiations. Another Rubio-Lavrov phone call could take place later this week, though no specific date has been confirmed. Both diplomats are expected to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit this weekend.

Trump’s interest in rekindling dialogue with Putin has made little tangible progress since his phone call with Putin last Thursday, and his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House last Friday. Zelenskyy, who visited Washington to appeal for U.S. Tomahawk cruise missiles and other advanced weaponry, revealed Monday that the Trump administration had declined to provide Ukraine with the long-range missiles—though he said the “issue is not off the table.” Despite the setback, Zelenskyy described his meeting with Trump as “positive” and said he was awaiting word on whether he might be invited to participate in the now-stalled Budapest discussions.

Meanwhile, the Kremlin has emphasized that no meeting between Trump and Putin had ever been formally scheduled. Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday that “you can’t postpone what was not scheduled, with Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov echoing that sentiment in an interview with Russia’s TASS state news agency, noting, “we cannot postpone what has not been agreed upon.” Ryabkov added that internal discussions are ongoing and promised to share updates “as new information becomes available.”

Lavrov later confirmed that his conversation with Rubio focused on developing a “framework for the next meeting” between the two presidents. “The key point is not the venue or timing, but how we will proceed substantively on the tasks that were agreed upon and on which broad understanding was reached in Anchorage,” he said, referencing Trump and Putin’s August meeting in Alaska. Lavrov added that Moscow’s stance remains consistent with the principles both leaders outlined during that earlier summit. “Those understandings are based on the agreement achieved at that time, which President Trump very succinctly formulated when he said that what is needed is a long-term, sustainable peace, not an immediate ceasefire that would lead nowhere,” he explained.

Lavrov also criticized the U.S. for what he characterized as an unwillingness to address the deeper causes of the war, saying “now, Washington is saying that we need to stop immediately and not discuss anything further. We need to stop and let history decide. You see, if we just stop, we will forget about the root causes of this conflict, which the American administration clearly understood when Donald Trump came to power.”

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According to federal officials, two people — a Deputy U.S. marshal and the suspect — were injured Tuesday morning during an immigration enforcement operation in South Los Angeles.

Sources told news outlet CNN that the incident unfolded around 8:52 a.m. near 400 East 20th Street, just south of the 10 Freeway, as federal agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the U.S. Marshals Service conducted a targeted enforcement stop.

According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the operation began when “ICE law enforcement officers, assisted by U.S. Marshals, pulled the illegal alien over in a standard law enforcement procedure.” Officials said the situation escalated when “the illegal alien weaponized his vehicle and began ramming the law enforcement vehicle in an attempt to flee.” DHS said that as officers attempted to stop the suspect “fearing for the safety of the public and law enforcement, our officers followed their training and fired defensive shots.” The agency confirmed that “the illegal alien was shot in the elbow and one law enforcement officer was shot in the hand by a ricochet bullet. Both are in the hospital.”

A law enforcement source said that the ICE agent’s firearm discharged after the suspect rammed a vehicle used by the enforcement team. Investigators believe the shooting occurred as an officer smashed the suspect’s car window with their service weapon and tried to pull the driver out, causing the weapon to discharge and strike both the suspect and a deputy marshal.

The injured deputy marshal, who sustained a gunshot wound to the hand, was taken to a local hospital and is reported to be in stable condition with a non-life-threatening injury, according to the U.S. Marshals Central District of California. The suspect’s condition remains unclear as of Tuesday afternoon, though officials earlier described him as having been “gravely wounded.” DHS later confirmed that the man, described as an unauthorized immigrant who had “previously escaped from custody,” was taken back into custody following the incident.

The Los Angeles Police Department confirmed that the shooting involved a federal agent and said the department is assisting in the ongoing investigation. Authorities have not released the suspect’s name or any additional details as the inquiry continues.

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