Home Minority Chief Hakeem Jeffries on Thursday broke the document for longest “magic minute” speech on the Home ground as he sought to stall a vote on the Huge Lovely Invoice.
It was nonetheless darkish out at 4:52 a.m. when Jeffries stood up on the ground of the Home of Representatives and began to denounce President Trump’s sprawling price range invoice.
As morning dawned, the Brooklyn Democrat talked on, denouncing the cuts on Medicaid and meals stamps within the invoice as against the law in opposition to the American folks.
By lunchtime, he handed 8-1/2 hours of nonstop speechifying, breaking a document set by ex-Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy in 2021.
“I never thought that I’d be on the House floor saying that this is a crime scene,” Jeffries stated. “It’s a crime scene, going after the health, and the safety and the well-being of the American people.”
“And as Democrats,” he stated, “We want no part of it.”
Home Minority Chief Hakeem Jeffries speaks within the Home chamber previous to the ultimate vote for President Donald Trump’s signature invoice of tax breaks and spending cuts, on the Capitol on Thursday in Washington. (Rod Lamkey, Jr./AP)
He lastly wrapped up at 1:37 p.m., a complete of 8 hours and 45 minutes. Jeffries was permitted to talk so long as he wished underneath a practice referred to as the “magic minute” reserved for occasion leaders.
Because the minutes and hours ticked by, Jeffries ticked off a laundry checklist of People whom he stated could be harmed by Trump’s invoice, together with veterans, the working class, small-business homeowners, workers making an attempt to unionize, federal staff, Medicaid beneficiaries and prospects in Inexpensive Care Act insurance coverage exchanges.
Regardless of their lockstep opposition, Democrats lacked the votes in Congress to cease the measure Trump calls the Huge Lovely Invoice. He’s anticipated to signal it into regulation on July 4, notching an enormous political win for himself and his Republican allies.
So Jeffries’ speech was actually about framing it as “an all-out assault on the American people” forward of subsequent 12 months’s midterm elections and past.
“This is personal to us,” Jeffries stated.
Home Minority Chief Hakeem Jeffries is seen on a tv display screen as he delivers a ground speech whereas the Home of Representatives debates the One, Huge, Lovely Invoice Act on the U.S. Capitol on Thursday in Washington, DC. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Photos)
Greater than eight hours into his opposing presentation, Jeffries stated Trump’s rhetoric about serving to People of their day by day lives was nonsense.
“Not a single thing in Donald Trump’s One Big Ugly Bill will meaningfully make life more affordable for everyday Americans,” he stated.
If Jeffries’ marathon speech wasn’t sufficient to speak the Democrats’ uniform opposition to Trump’s coverage priorities, he summed it up in a two-word rallying cry: “Hell no!”
“We were a ‘Hell No!’ last week, a ‘Hell No!’ this week, a ‘Hell No!’ yesterday, a ‘Hell No!’ today, and we’ll continue to be a ‘Hell No!’ on this effort to hurt the American people.”
Considered one of Jeffries’ recurring themes was assaults on the hypocrisy of Republican lawmakers who sought to distance themselves from some planks within the invoice, however wound up caving to Trump and voting for it anyway.
“There are some people in this town who go to church on Sunday and pray, that’s P-R-A-Y,” Jeffries stated. “Then they come to the Capitol on Monday and prey — that’s P-R-E-Y — on the American people.”
“I’m not down with that,” Jeffries stated.
Initially Printed: July 3, 2025 at 1:56 PM EDT
