--- title: Hakeem Jeffries Breaks Record For Longest House Speech description: The House Minority Leader began his marathon protest of President Donald Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill" at 4:53 a.m. on Thursday. canonical: https://time.com/7299967/hakeem-jeffries-record-house-speech-trump-big-beautiful-bill/ author: Nik Popli article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-07-03T17:30:53.000Z article:modified_time: 2025-07-03T19:23:41.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: Hakeem Jeffries Breaks Record For Longest House Speech og:description: The House Minority Leader began his marathon protest of President Donald Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill" at 4:53 a.m. og:url: https://time.com/7299967/hakeem-jeffries-record-house-speech-trump-big-beautiful-bill/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc79f71e0e7d95308/6998c7fde1ba003d5998db59/hakeem-jeffries-house-trump-big-beautiful-bill.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: House Republican Hardliners Warn Of A Delay To Tax Vote og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Hakeem Jeffries Breaks Record For Longest House Speech twitter:description: The House Minority Leader began his marathon protest of President Donald Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill" at 4:53 a.m. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc79f71e0e7d95308/6998c7fde1ba003d5998db59/hakeem-jeffries-house-trump-big-beautiful-bill.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Hakeem Jeffries Breaks Record For Longest House Speech in Marathon Protest of Trump’s Bill > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=be5cd897-f121-4b5b-86a0-72dff1f87e09&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: House Republicans Pass 'Big Beautiful Bill,' Sending It to Trump's Desk [Watch (HLS stream): House Republicans Pass 'Big Beautiful Bill,' Sending It to Trump's Desk](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ObiX7D4N.m3u8) (0:26)  _Published 2025-07-03. House Republicans handed President Donald Trump his first legislative victory of his second term Thursday after overcoming resistance from a handful of members, passing a sweeping $3.4 trillion tax-and-spending package known as the “Big Beautiful Bill” that extends his 2017 tax cuts, provides a large funding boost for his immigration policies, and imposes deep cuts to Medicaid and other safety-net programs. The bill passed 218 to 214, with Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Thomas Massie of Kentucky as the only two Republicans to join all Democrats in opposition, sending the measure to Trump’s desk a day before his self-imposed July 4 deadline._  by [Nik Popli](https://time.com/author/nik-popli/)  ## Nik Popli Staff Writer Updated: Jul 3, 2025 7:23 PM UTCPublished: Jul 3, 2025 5:30 PM UTC  Representative Hakeem Jeffries, a Democrat from New York, speaks during a news conference with House Democrats outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, July 2, 2025. Representative Hakeem Jeffries, a Democrat from New York, speaks during a news conference with House Democrats outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, July 2, 2025. Kent Nishimura—Bloomberg/Getty Images  by [Nik Popli](https://time.com/author/nik-popli/)  ## Nik Popli Staff Writer Updated: Jul 3, 2025 7:23 PM UTCPublished: Jul 3, 2025 5:30 PM UTC At 4:53 a.m. on Thursday, Hakeem Jeffries took his place at the lectern on the House floor, bound by no time limit, and began reading letters from constituents in Republican districts who have expressed fear of President Donald Trump’s [signature tax and spending bill becoming law](https://time.com/7299226/big-beautiful-bill-senate-trump-murkowski/). "People will die. Tens of thousands, perhaps year after year after year, as a result of the Republican assault on the healthcare of the American people," [the House Minority Leader](https://time.com/6243296/hakeem-jeffries-first-congress/) said. "I'm sad. I never thought I would be on the House floor saying this is a crime scene." Eight hours and thirty-three minutes later, Jeffries broke the record for the longest continuous speech in House history, using his unlimited speaking privileges under the House’s “magic minute” rule for party leaders to delay a final vote on Republicans’ signature legislation that would enact Trump’s domestic agenda. House Republicans were on track to pass the legislation on Thursday after Speaker Mike Johnson and the President worked overnight to persuade skeptical GOP holdouts to drop their opposition to the bill. Jeffries’ speech was a last ditch attempt for Democrats to frame Trump’s legislation in the starkest terms for the public ahead of Thursday’s expected vote, potentially previewing the Democrats’ message going into the 2026 midterms. “This is not a ‘Big, Beautiful Bill,’” he said. “It is one big, ugly betrayal of working-class Americans.” **Read more:** [_House Republicans Set To Vote on Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’_](https://time.com/7299226/big-beautiful-bill-senate-trump-murkowski/) The measure would broadly fund many of Trump’s biggest campaign promises: extending his 2017 tax cuts that critics say confer their greatest benefits on the wealthy; eliminating taxes on tips and overtime; and providing roughly $170 billion for [immigration and border-related operations](https://time.com/7291757/trump-deportation-ice-el-salvador/). To offset some of those costs, the bill also includes deep spending cuts to Medicaid and nutrition assistance, which the Trump Administration has tried to sell to the public by arguing that many of the people who would lose health insurance under the measure are undocumented immigrants. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) found that the bill would increase the deficit by $3.4 trillion and leave about 12 million people without insurance by 2034. Jeffries’ speech surpassed the previous record of eight hours and 32 minutes set in 2021 by then-Republican leader Kevin McCarthy, who similarly used the floor to delay a vote on a $2 trillion Democratic bill to strengthen the social safety net and fight climate change. It also comes roughly three months after Democratic Senator [Cory Booker broke an upper chamber record](https://time.com/7273417/cory-booker-filibuster-speech-senate/) by speaking for more than 25 hours in a sharp rebuke of the Trump Administration, the most viral public challenge to Trump’s agenda since his return to the White House. For Democrats, the speech served as a rallying cry against Trump’s legislation and as a broader [indictment of his second-term priorities](https://time.com/7299256/big-beautiful-bill-polling-takeaways/) and the Republican majority’s alignment with them. Jeffries laced his speech with personal anecdotes and stories from the public: people who rely on Medicaid, small business owners facing higher premiums, and the father of three Marines—an undocumented landscaper—beaten by Border Patrol agents in California. **Read more:** [_The ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ Would Pour Billions Into ICE’s Budget_](https://time.com/7299360/big-beautiful-bill-trump-ice-immigration/) “How can you prepare to celebrate legislation that will undermine the quality of life of everyday Americans?” Jeffries said to House Republicans who were preparing to vote in favor of the bill. “Shame on this institution if this bill passes. We are better than this, America,” Jeffries said in his closing, as Democrats in the chamber behind him chanted in unison: “shame, shame, shame.” As Jeffries finished at 1:39 p.m., after speaking for eight hours and forty-four minutes, Democrats cheered and chanted his name. Democrats would need four Republicans to [break ranks](https://time.com/7299324/trump-big-beautiful-bill-republican-senators/) in order to sink the legislation, which by Thursday afternoon did not appear likely. Still, some Democrats urged their supporters to call their Republican representatives and urge them to vote against Trump’s bill. “Keep making calls!” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wrote on X in all-caps. “Hit the phones to save Medicaid!” **Read more:** [_More Than 70 Million Americans Are on Medicaid. Here’s What to Know About the Program_](https://time.com/7298772/medicaid-big-beautiful-bill-health-insurance/) Meanwhile, Republicans mostly rolled their eyes at the last-minute action by Democrats. “What we just heard can be defined in one word—a bunch of hogwash is what we heard for 8 hours on that side of the building,” Rep. Jason Smith of Missouri said on the House floor immediately after the speech concluded. “The eight hours of hogwash that we just heard will not change the outcome that you will see very shortly when we deliver historic tax relief for working families, small business owners and farmers.” “Keep going, Hakeem—the longer you speak, the more unified Republicans become,” Rep. Marlin Stutzman of Indiana posted earlier on X. “The Big Beautiful Bill WILL be on President Trump’s desk July 4th.” ## Transcript Here we go. On this vote, the yeas are 218. The nays are 214. The motion is adopted. 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