(Bloomberg Government) — House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries is blocking a final vote on Republicans’ tax and spending package with a lengthy floor speech bashing the bill.
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The New Yorker is using his unlimited floor speech privileges to ensure Democratic criticisms of the bill air on popular morning news shows. He began speaking before 5 a.m. in remarks that have gone well beyond a speech expected to last an hour. The longer he talks, the more attention he is likely to draw.
“This reckless Republican budget is an immoral document,” Jeffries said from his podium on the floor. “This legislation will end Medicaid as we know it,” he said at another point.
The delays frustrated GOP leaders who have no way to stop Jeffries, although the speech is unlikely to impact plans to have the bill ready for President Donald Trump to sign Friday. Republicans themselves delayed final action for hours overnight as they wrangled the votes needed to advance it.
The minority leader’s remarks are now the third-longest of their kind in House history, replacing Democrat Champ Clark’s five-hour and 15-minute magic minute in 1909. Democrats hope Clark’s speech becomes a historical echo — the then-leader used his time to speak against a tariff bill that divided Republicans and led to Democrats retaking the House.
Jeffries will have to keep speaking until around 1:30 p.m. if he wants to set the record for a House floor speech. Then-Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) set that mark by speaking for eight hours and 32 minutes in opposition to then-President Joe Biden’s signature Build Back Better legislation in 2021.
The use of a “magic minute,” which allows the leader to speak as long as he can continuously, is a common tactic of the minority.
Jeffries at multiple points teased Republicans by indicating he may be ready to yield the floor soon, but then saying, “I’m still here to take my sweet time.”
House Republicans largely emptied the chamber when it became apparent that Jeffries’ speech wouldn’t end soon. Some remained and had to be asked to quiet conversations on multiple occasions as Jeffries slowly laid out his case against the megabill.
Vice President JD Vance tweeted around 8 a.m. that one House Republican switched from “undecided” to “yes” because of Jeffries’ “performance.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
