Hakeem Jeffries sets US House record with near 9-hour speech before Trump tax Bill vote
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US House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries speaking to reporters as he walked off the House floor after speaking for eight hours and 46 minutes on July 3.
PHOTO: AFP
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- Hakeem Jeffries gave an 8 hour, 46-minute speech against President Trump's US$3.4 trillion tax and spending Bill, the longest House speech ever.
- Jeffries criticised the Bill as favouring the wealthy and harming less affluent Americans by cutting health and food safety net benefits.
- Jeffries hopes voters "will get even" in the 2026 elections and aims to become the first Black House speaker in 2027 if Democrats win.
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WASHINGTON – Mr Hakeem Jeffries talked. And talked. And talked, as the top Democrat in the House of Representatives on July 3 blasted President Donald Trump’s sweeping tax cut and spending Bill in the longest speech in the chamber’s history.
Mr Jeffries’ speech, at eight hours and 46 minutes, marked Democrats’ last chance to prosecute their case against the US$3.4 trillion (S$4.3 trillion) package.
Lacking the votes to defeat the measure in a chamber that Republicans control by a slim 220-212 margin, Mr Jeffries, 54, railed against legislation that he characterised as a giveaway to the wealthy that would strip less affluent Americans of health and food safety net benefits.
“It’s not the type of leadership that this country needs right now. But that’s what we’re getting. Chaos. Cruelty. And corruption,” he said.
Mr Jeffries began speaking at 4.53am (4.53pm, July 3, Singapore time) and wrapped up at 1.38pm (1.38am, July 4, Singapore time).
That broke a 2021 House record set by then House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy, who spent eight hours and 32 minutes lambasting Democratic president Joe Biden’s clean energy and domestic spending package.
Republicans were expected to hold a final vote on passage of the Bill shortly after Mr Jeffries wrapped up.
His speech also recalled that of another Democratic lawmaker, Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey, who broke the record for the longest Senate speech
Mr Booker’s performance drew cheers from Democratic voters who have been frustrated by their party’s powerlessness in Washington and have accused the party’s leaders of being too meek.
Mr Jeffries used his status as Democratic leader to stretch his customary 60-second speaking time, known as a “magic minute”, for several hours.
That likely will not be enough to block passage of Mr Trump’s Bill, which has already passed the Republican-controlled Senate.
But Mr Jeffries made clear he had his eye on a prize further down the road.
Voters, he said, “will get even” in the November 2026 congressional elections “because of these cuts being unleashed on the American people”.
If Democrats win control of the House, Mr Jeffries would be poised to make history again by becoming the first black House speaker in the Congress that convenes at the start of 2027.
Early in his speech, he showcased sick children in Republicans’ home districts who might eventually lose Medicaid coverage under the legislation. It was a manoeuvre that could increase coverage of his speech in local media across the country.
Mr Jeffries pulled no punches.
He said the Bill was “ripping healthcare” from Americans and called it “shameful”, “disgusting” and “reckless”.
“This is a crime scene and House Democrats want no part of it,” he said. REUTERS
