As the vote on President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill inched closer, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) began a grandstanding fauxlibuster speech shortly before 5 a.m. Eastern on Thursday. As he spoke, a cadre of Democrats sat behind him, sometimes scowling, sometimes not paying attention, and occasionally giving him standing ovations. (C’mon, don’t feed his ego, y’all!)
This speech and the forthcoming vote are coming after House members have been up for hours in a marathon all-night session debating and voting on amendments. You know these people must be tired, and it showed in one moment during the speech.
Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) dozed off on the second row behind Jeffries. She nodded off and woke up several times.
The Democrats finally had enough of Kaptur’s sweet dreams during Jeffries’ snoozefest. Someone tapped her on the shoulder, asked her to leave, and replaced her with Rep. Sarah (really Tim) McBride (D-Del.).
Almost all of the House Republicans had left the chamber for Jeffries’ speech, which was intended to stall for as long as possible.
Democrats made sure to have enough members around Jeffries in plain view for the public to see.
GOP leadership kept the House in session all through the night Wednesday into Thursday as it scrambled to get enough of its ultra-slim majority onboard to pass the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Some lawmakers had snuck off to their offices or other spaces to get a little shuteye, while others attempted to power through the marathon session.
The Post adds:
Following a brief debate, Jeffries tapped into his “magic minute,” which gives party leaders in the House the ability to address the chamber as long as they wish.
Jeffries read through various letters from constituents conveying their fears about the Medicaid and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) reforms in the megabill.
The top Democrat also ran through GOP criticism of the legislative bundle in a bid to maximize the delay.
One of the funniest things to watch was the Democrats swapping places to make sure that several of them got camera time on the front row. It’s exactly the performative silliness we’ve come to expect from the Democrats these days.
Even GOP congressmen are mocking the speech:
I can’t help but wonder if Jeffries is aiming to speak long enough to break the record for a House speech, which Kevin McCarthy set in 2021 in a speech that went on for a whopping eight hours and 32 minutes. If Jeffries stops at eight hours and 33 minutes, he’ll prove that he’s not only Temu Obama, but he’s Temu Cory Booker as well.
I don’t know how the Democrats can think that anybody takes them seriously. All I can do is shake my head.
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