House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries broke the record for longest House floor speech on Thursday as he filibustered President Trump’s sweeping tax-and-spending-cut package.

The New York Democrat’s speech was 8 hours and 44 minutes.

Mr. Jeffries broke by 12 minutes the previous record set by former Speaker Kevin McCarthy in 2021. Mr. McCarthy, California Republican, was serving as minority leader at the time and protesting Democratic legislation called the Build Back Better Act; that bill was later downsized before it was enacted into law as the Inflation Reduction Act.

Most House members are limited in how long they can speak on the floor, but the top leaders in both parties are afforded what is known as a “magic minute,” meaning they can take the typical time afforded to members to speak on a bill and magically stretch it for as long as they like.

Mr. Jeffries signaled he would let his speech run long and potentially break the record by noting several times he planned to take his “sweet time.”

He said he wanted to shed some light on Republicans’ “big, beautiful bill,” which he and other Democrats have called the “big, ugly bill.” They say it cuts funding for “essential benefit programs” like Medicaid and food stamps, known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

“This bill represents the largest cut to health care in American history,” Mr. Jeffries said of the Medicaid cuts. “It’s an all-out assault.”

He spent much of his speech reading from a binder, sharing stories from Americans who would be affected by cuts to Medicaid food stamps, known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.

Mr. Jeffries wrapped up his speech with a quote from the late Rep. John Lewis that he said he hoped would give the American people some hope:

“Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful. Be optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day a week, a month or a year. It is the struggle of a lifetime.”

Like Mr. Lewis and other civil-rights leaders, Mr. Jeffries said, the American people would “press on.”

“We’re going to press on until victory is won,” he said.

Shortly after Mr. Jeffries wrapped his speech, House Speaker Mike Johnson closed out debate on the bill. The Louisiana Republican brought out a binder, opening it briefly and smirking before closing it shut. Republicans in the chamber laughed at the joke.

Mr. Johnson quoted former President Reagan, who said no speech should be longer than 20 minutes, and he promised to be brief in his remarks, before taking a dig at Mr. Jeffries.

“It takes a lot longer to build a lie than to tell the simple truth,” he said.

• Lindsey McPherson can be reached at lmcpherson@washingtontimes.com.