WASHINGTON — House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., concluded his floor speech to loud applause from his Democratic colleagues and a wide smile on his face.
It wasn’t just any floor speech the top party leader had just completed. In fact, Jeffries had just notched himself as the longest speech giver in the history of the House of Representatives, finishing his remarks after eight hours and 44 minutes.
The speech surpassed the previous record set by then-Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy in 2021, who spoke for eight hours and 32 minutes when he opposed former President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better Act. Before that, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi set the record in 2019 with an eight-hour-and-seven-minute speech.
Just before 3:30 a.m. EDT on Thursday, lawmakers approved a key procedural vote to begin debate on the budget framework after hours of closed-door meetings between rank-and-file members, White House officials, and Trump himself. But before debate concluded, Jeffries was recognized to offer what is known as a “magic minute” — a special privilege reserved for top party leaders to speak as long as they want.
Jeffries initially planned to only delay the final vote by about an hour, according to Axios. But those plans began to change after the Democratic leader decided he wanted to hold the vote in the daylight rather than in the middle of the night.
“I ask the question, if Republicans were so proud of this one big, ugly bill, why did debate begin at 3:28 a.m. in the morning?” Jeffries said at the top of his remarks. “The Republicans are once again, which has been the case through every step of this journey, (trying) to jam this bill through the House of Representatives under cover of darkness. But 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.”
Jeffries focused much of his speech sharing stories from constituents who voiced concerns to lawmakers about the proposed spending cuts tucked into President Donald Trump’s massive tax package, particularly in relation to Medicaid and other welfare programs.
The Democratic leader was backed by a stack of binders filled to the brim with these stories as Jeffries said he would force a makeshift debate that he argued was not permitted.
“I’m going to take a little time to share some of the stories of the American people. Voices that might otherwise be excluded from this debate,” Jeffries said. “But we’re not going to let those voices be excluded. We will ensure that these voices are heard. We will continue to do everything we can to bring those voices to light.”
Jeffries also walked through dozens of proposed amendments that never got a vote on the floor, accusing his GOP colleagues of shutting them out of negotiations.
As Jeffries entered the last few hours of his speech, his voice became noticeably raspy as the Democratic leader drank water and cleared his throat. Members sitting in the chamber shouted to encourage him to “take your time.”
While Jeffries was flanked by Democratic members who cheered him on throughout his remarks, the speech was largely ignored by those on the other side of the aisle. Several Republicans left the House floor as Jeffries’ speech stretched into the late morning, with some even lamenting what they called “wasted time.”
“I don’t know what he has in mind. He may be trying to go for the record,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters during Jeffries’ speech. “It’s an utter waste of everyone’s time. But, you know, that’s part of the system here.”
Jeffries is the second Democrat to break a speaking record this year. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., made history in April by completing the longest Senate speech in history after speaking for 25 hours without interruption.
