The Democratic minority leader used his unlimited talking time to set back Republicans’ vote timeline but didn’t ultimately stop its final passage.
Democratic Rep. Hakeem Jeffries halts vote with marathon speech
Democratic Rep. Hakeem Jeffries is holding up the House vote on Trump’s sweeping tax, spending and policy bill with a “magic minute” speech.
WASHINGTON – House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-New York, now holds the title for the longest floor speech, surpassing the previous record of 8 hours and 33 minutes. And he kept going.
Jeffries took to the floor just before 5 a.m. in Washington, following hours of debate, procedural voting and arm twisting by Republicans in the process of passing President Donald Trump’s sweeping tax, spending and policy bill.
“I rise today in strong opposition to Donald Trump’s disgusting abomination…that guts Medicaid, rips food from the mouths of children, seniors and veterans, and rewards billionaires with massive tax breaks,” Jeffries said early in his address.
The top House Democrat used his “magic minute” − a privilege of leadership that allows him to speak on the floor for an unlimited amount of time − to throw a wrench in Republicans’ timeline with an 8 hour and 44 minute speech.
“You broke the record now, keep going,” one lawmaker, from the sea of Democrats surrounding Jeffries, encouraged when Jeffries hit the official mark at 1:26 p.m. Eastern Time.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, spoke after Jeffries and before the final 218-214 vote to pass the legislation, where he lambasted his colleague.
“Democrats deliver performances and Republicans deliver results,” Johnson said.
GOP members began trickling back into the chamber toward the end of Jeffries’ speech. For the first and only time during the almost nine hours, they broke into applause when the top Democrat announced he had concluded.
Unlikely to stop a vote
Jeffries’ verbose delay tactic didn’t actually stop the bill from passing. Some Republicans even said he was helping their side.
“GOP Congressman just texted me: ‘I was undecided on the bill but then I watched Hakeem Jeffries performance and now I’m a firm yes,’” Vice President JD Vance wrote on X, without specifying who the lawmaker was.
In his address, Jeffries condemned the bill’s cuts to Medicaid spending and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
“People will die,” Jeffries said. “I’m sad. I never thought that I’d be on the House floor saying this is a crime scene. And House Democrats want no part of it.”
His speech tops the prior record held by former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-California, who spoke for eight and a half hours in 2021 in opposition to former President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better bill.
Before that, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, held the title with an 8 hour and 7 minute speech.
Unlike the Senate, the House does not have an official filibuster to tank the opposing party’s legislation.
Sen. Cory Booker, D-New Jersey, set the upper chamber’s record back in April with a marathon 25-hour filibuster blasting the Trump administration.
Contributing: Sudiksha Kochi
