Democratic Leader delays House vote with record 8-hour floor speech against GOP tax bill
Washington (AP) Even though the House does not have a filibuster, Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries effectively carried one out.
Jeffries occupied the House floor for over eight hours on Thursday, giving his minority party a long opportunity to criticize what he described as an unethical bill and delaying the adoption of Republicans’ major tax and spending reduction legislation.
It is known on Capitol Hill as the “magic minute,” which lasts as long as leaders are speaking, because Jeffries, as the Democratic leader, is free to speak for as long as he likes during legislative debate.
He broke the record set by then-Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California in 2021, when he was the GOP leader, by starting the speech at 4:53 a.m. EDT and ending it at 1:37 p.m. EDT, 8 hours, 44 minutes later.McCarthy broke the record established by Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who talked for 8 hours, 7 minutes in 2018 about immigration, when he fiercely slammed Democrats’ Build Back Better proposal for 8 hours, 32 minutes.
I feel obligated to take my sweet time standing on this House floor, Mr. Speaker. Jeffries opened and spoke.
A final vote on Republican President Donald Trump’s tax bill was originally scheduled for the early hours of the morning, but the speech moved it into the day. Among other aspects of the measure that Democrats condemn, the New York Democrat used the occasion to attack the package’s reductions in food and health care assistance, tax incentives for the wealthiest, and rollbacks to renewable energy initiatives.
Among other things, he passed the time by riffing on hip-hop, King George III, and his own life narrative. He criticized Republicans who had expressed disapproval of the measure, read testimonies from constituents in those GOP representatives’ areas who were worried about their health care, and commended his own supporters, some of whom sat behind him and applauded, clapped, laughed, and linked hands.
Jeffries stated, “I stand here on the floor of the House of Representatives with my colleagues in the House Democratic caucus to stand up and push back against it with everything we have because this reckless Republican budget is an immoral document.”
To increase his energy, Jeffries drank beverages and took tiny bites of food, but he remained in the chamber and at his podium. If he did, the speech would end.
Republicans are passing the massive package through a convoluted budget process that avoids the Senate filibuster, and Democrats were helpless to stop it. Therefore, they were primarily delaying by using the powers they do possess. New York Democratic leader Chuck Schumer made Senate clerks spend nearly 16 hours reading the bill over the weekend.
Similar attention was drawn to Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., in April when he broke the record for the longest continuous Senate floor address in the chamber’s history by speaking for almost 25 hours. While fellow Democrats helped Booker by interrupting him to ask him questions on the Senate floor, Jeffries’ magic minute prevented him from speaking to other senators.
Half the chamber was empty as Republicans who were seated on the floor when Jeffries began began to leave. Additionally, several made fun of him on social media while they tensely awaited their vote.
Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina wrote, “Anything that makes House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries this crazy must be good.” Go ahead and pass the One Big Beautiful Bill.
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This report was written by Lisa Mascaro and Leah Askrinam of the Associated Press.
