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.”
“As I take my seat, I just want to say to the American people that no matter what the outcome is on this singular day, we’re going to press on,” he said, going on to list more than a dozen groups he would “press on” for.
“Press on for the left behind,” he said, as lawmakers echoed his call. “Press on for the rule of law. Press on for the American way of life. Press on for democracy. We’re going to press on until victory is won. I yield back.”
He also referred to the 2026 midterms in the final minutes of the speech. He nodded to Republican goals in Project 2025, a controversial policy blueprint, saying the Declaration of Independence framers were “fed up with Project 1775, and so they implemented Project 1776.”
“I know that there are people concerned with what’s happening in America, but understand what our journey teaches us is that after Project 2025 comes Project 2026.”
Ways and Means committee chair Jason Smith, R-Mo., followed Jeffries, blasting him for delivering “eight hours of hogwash." Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., also took a jab, saying that “unlike the Democratic leader, I’m going to honor my colleagues’ time and be a little more brief than that.”
House leaders have unlimited speaking time on the floor, using a procedure called a “magic minute.” The previous record for the longest floor speech was 8 hours, 32 minutes in 2021, when Kevin Mccarthy, R-calif., then the minority leader, spoke opposition to Democrats' Build Back Better plan.
Jeffries said he was taking his “sweet time on behalf of the American people.”
“What is contemplated in this one big, ugly bill is wrong. It’s dangerous, and it’s cruel, and cruelty should not be either the objective or the outcome of legislation that we consider here in the United States House of Representatives,” he said, arguing that it was “cruel” to cut Medicaid.
Democrats repeatedly broke into resounding applause throughout Jeffries’ speech, chanting his name and embracing him in hugs after he finished.
He zeroed in on the bill’s impact on Medicaid recipients, reading notes from people who rely on government health care programs or have family members on Medicaid.
“Above all else, I’m just thankful for the spirit, the heart and soul of the American people who have risen up throughout this country to make it clear to all of us in this institution: Keep your hands off our Medicaid. Keep your hands off our health care,” Jeffries said.
The Senate version of the bill would lead to nearly 12 million people losing health insurance over the next 10 years because of Medicaid cuts, according to the nonpartisan congressional Budget Office. It would institute work requirements for able-bodied adults under 65 years old — a key Republican priority — and it would alter how states fund Medicaid.
The bill also includes huge funding increases for immigration enforcement and the military, and it would cut Biden-era clean energy tax credits, among other provisions.
Jeffries framed the bill as Republicans’ “trying to take a chain saw” to social safety net programs.
“Republicans are trying to take a chain saw to Social Security, a chain saw to Medicare, a chain saw to Medicaid, a chain saw to the health care of the American people, a chain saw to nutritional assistance for hungry children, a chain saw to farm country and a chain saw to vulnerable Americans,” he said.
He also touched on other Democratic priorities, criticizing President Donald Trump's tariffs and the administration's handling of deportations.
The White House criticized Jeffries' speech, arguing that he was "bloviating" to delay the bill's passage.
"He wants America to fail— but @POTUS will ensure America succeeds," the White House's rapid response team said on X.
Sen. cory Booker, D-N.J., set the record for the longest Senate speech three months ago, at more than 25 hours.
