Jeffries delays BBB vote for hours with marathon speech on House floor

Hakeem Jeffries said he would take his "sweet time" in the "magic minute," speaking time enjoyed by party leaders finished debating a rule, prior to the vote on the Big, Beautiful Bill (BBB). And he took it: the magical 60 seconds became an hour, two, three, seven....

Despite the name of the rule, the speaker can decide how much to stretch out his time, according to Taegan Goddard's Political Dictionary. In 2021, then-Republican Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy spoke for eight and a half hours before the House passed the Build Back Better Act.

The New York Democrat began speaking at 5 a.m. ET on Thursday and continued speaking past 1:23 p.m. ET, setting a new record. ET and continued speaking past 1:23pm ET, setting a new record.

After criticizing the time allotted to debate the mega-budget bill, he promised he would take his "sweet time to tell the stories of the American people" and began reading letters from concerned citizens about possible cuts to Medicaid.

"Disgusting abomination," he said of the BBB. And also, scoffing at the name: "One Big Ugly Bill" "GOP tax Scam," he continued, "Guts Medicaid" and "rips food from the mouth of children and rewards billionaires with massive tax breaks."

"I ask the question, if Republicans were so proud of this one big, ugly bill, why did debate begin at 3:28am in the morning?" he asked. Therein lies part of the Democratic leader's strategy, according to his party and House counterpart Pete Aguilar in words picked up by Axios: "This is about fighting for the American people ... forcing it into the daylight and telling some stories about the real impacts."

Speaker Mike Johnson had predicted he would speak for an hour. The Republican side points out that while Jeffries can delay the vote, he cannot suspend it.