“This is an extremely scary time,” Oregon U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley said in a meeting with members of the press before addressing a town hall in Eugene.While he said there was no current discussion of impeachment or censorship of President Trump, the Senate and the House members are carefully continuing the nomination process of Trump’s cabinet.“Our immediate attention is to say we have a responsibility not to allow incompetent people to be in charge of our government,” he said.#placement_573654_0_i{width:100%;max-width:550px;margin:0 auto;}var rnd = window.rnd || Math.floor(Math.random()*10e6);var pid573654 = window.pid573654 || rnd;var plc573654 = window.plc573654 || 0;var abkw = window.abkw || '';var absrc = 'https://ads.empowerlocal.co/adserve/;ID=181918;size=0x0;setID=573654;type=js;sw='+screen.width+';sh='+screen.height+';spr='+window.devicePixelRatio+';kw='+abkw+';pid='+pid573654+';place='+(plc573654++)+';rnd='+rnd+';click=CLICK_MACRO_PLACEHOLDER';var _absrc = absrc.split("type=js"); absrc = _absrc[0] + 'type=js;referrer=' + encodeURIComponent(document.location.href) + _absrc[1];document.write('');According to Merkley, President Trump is essentially blackmailing members of his own party to get them to do certain things.“At his point coming off the election, people are incline to be team players,” Merkley said. “And they are afraid of the power of the billionaire team standing behind Trump, So, this is a real problem for our democracy. We are seeing a sweeping authoritarian power grab not witnessed in our lifetime.”Merkley said he understood the concern that local city and state officials have about losing federal funds for Oregon under the Trump Administration.“Thirty percent of the state budget is federal money,” Merkley said. “Those funds support all kinds of things such as housing, health care, and infrastructure. So, this is a real concern. There is a lot of concern about the federal government essentially trying to blackmailing the state of Oregon. We are very concerned about Oregon being targeted by Team Trump.”Merkley added that he is concerned that the Trump Administration is wiping out the foundation of law.“And that’s what’s happening right now,” he said. Adding that Trump’s actions are creating a free range to break the law. He cited President’s Trumps executive order to block the birth rights citizenship of Americans as an example.“That is breaking the constitutional law,” he said. “This is an extremely scary time because law is the framework that supports democracy from becoming autocracy and that framework is being torn apart.”A standing-room only crown filled South Eugene High School's auditorium for the Merkley Lane County town hall Sunday, Feb. 2. The senator took several questions, most about actions and impact of the Trump Administration.Merkley also held town halls in Newport, Philomath, Albany, and Salem over the weekend. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('ad-1515727'); });