Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries delivered the longest speech in House history Thursday, holding the floor for well over eight hours to delay passage of Republicans’ domestic policy megabill.
His so-called “magic minute,” as the unlimited speaking time granted to party leaders is known, breaks a record set by Republican Kevin McCarthy in 2021, which in turn exceeded the mark set by Nancy Pelosi in 2018. All were serving as minority leader at the time.
Starting at 4:52 a.m., Jeffries used his hours of speaking time to read letters from constituents who could be affected by cuts to social safety-net programs and to single out purple-district Republicans who are in line to support the legislation whose districts Democrats plan to target in next year’s midterms.
The speech was Democrats’ last option to slow down the megabill ahead of a final passage vote. It’s expected to pass later Thursday, ahead of the GOP’s self-imposed July 4 deadline.
“I’m here today to make it clear that I’m going to take my time and ensure that the American people fully understand how damaging this bill will be to their quality of life,” he said, later adding: “Donald Trump’s deadline may be Independence Day. That ain’t my deadline.”
Republicans largely shrugged off Jeffries’ speech, which set the new record at 1:25 p.m. after eight hours and 33 minutes. He continued for another 12 minutes after that. Speaker Mike Johnson called it “an utter waste of everyone’s time, but that’s part of the system here.”
Unlike in the Senate, debate time in the House is typically strictly limited, but there is an exception for top party leaders, who are allowed to speak without interruption under chamber precedent.
Progress on the megabill wasn’t just stalled out by Jeffries’ speech. Opposition by conservative hard-liners to changes made by the Senate led to one procedural vote being left open for more than nine hours Wednesday — the longest vote in House history, according to Democrats. GOP leaders pulled an all-nighter to flip lawmakers and eventually cleared the last procedural vote around 3:30 a.m., setting up Jeffries’ effort.
Cassandra Dumay contributed to this report.
