Hakeem Jeffries blasts Republicans, delays Trump bill voting in record-long House speech

WASHINGTON — House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N

WASHINGTON — House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., broke the record for the longest House floor speech ever Thursday, blasting Republicans and delaying passage of their sweeping tax and spending bill for over eight hours.

During his speech, which kicked off just before 5 a.m., Jeffries slammed the GOP bill, often referring to a series of binders as he read notes from Americans who he said would be harmed by Medicaid and SNAP benefit cuts.

He ended his 8-hour, 44-minute speech shortly after 1:30 p.m., yielding back with rapturous applause from Democrats who chanted his name and embraced him.

The Trump-backed “big, beautiful bill” passed the House later Thursday after several Republican holdouts flipped their votes overnight to support advancing it. Jeffries’ speech was part of the debate over the bill, though he was unlikely to change the outcome of the vote.

Jeffries closed by referring to remarks by Martin Luther King Jr., who urged people to “press on and keep pressing.”