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@ABCHouse Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries is making a marathon last stand against President Trump's major tax cut and spending bill. Read more:
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Jeffries Delays Vote on Trump Tax-Spending Bill With Hours-Long House Speech
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House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries launched an hours-long "magic minute" address at 4:53 a.m. Thursday, holding the chamber floor for more than five hours to protest and delay a final vote on President Donald Trump’s sweeping tax-and-spending package, dubbed by Republicans the "Big Beautiful Bill." The rarely used procedural privilege gives party leaders unlimited speaking time, which Jeffries used to read constituent letters and denounce proposed cuts to Medicaid, nutrition assistance and other programs.
Jeffries argued the legislation would "tear people down," citing a Congressional Budget Office estimate that the Medicaid provisions alone could leave 11.8 million Americans without coverage over the next decade. Democrats say the measure redirects resources to extend Trump’s 2017 tax cuts and provide new breaks for high-income households, while Republicans frame it as a fiscal overhaul aimed at curbing fraud and boosting growth.
The speech followed an overnight session in which House Republicans muscled through a procedural rule, 219–213, after flipping several holdouts. Speaker Mike Johnson said he expects the chamber to move to final passage later in the morning, adding that Trump worked the phones into the early hours to shore up support ahead of a self-imposed July 4 deadline.
Jeffries is still well short of the House record eight-hour-32-minute speech set by then-Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy in 2021, but signaled he may continue "as long as it takes". The marathon remarks underscore Democrats’ limited procedural options as they seek to block a bill that appears poised to reach the president’s desk once the vote clock finally starts.
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Nanette D. Barragán
@RepBarraganLIVE NOW: Leader @RepJeffries has been holding the House Floor now for over five hours. He is still out here torching Republicans for their lack of concern for the health and welfare of the American people and exposing Trump’s Big Ugly Bill as a fraud. The bill does NOT get rid
The Gateway Pundit
@gatewaypunditHAPPENING NOW: Hakeem Jeffries Holds Up Final Vote on “Big, Beautiful Bill” with Embarrassing Hours-Long Filibuster – And It Backfires When He Flips One Undecided GOPer to YES (VIDEO)
