"Hell No" and the Congressional Magic Minute at work
Here's the deal - House Democrats can't prevent the passage of the Republican tax bill, but they managed to delay it.
While many of us were in a deep sleep, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries stepped up to the podium on the House floor with something to say… “Hell no.”
The New York Congressman’s speech was in protest of the Republican-led “big, beautiful bill” with $4.5 trillion in tax breaks and spending cuts. Jeffries said he wanted to talk about how “damaging” the bill would be to the American people.
Leader Jeffries started talking just before 5 am/ET Thursday, and he kept talking for nearly nine hours - breaking the record for the longest speech on the House floor. The previous record was held by then-Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-California, in 2021.
This speech didn’t stop the vote, but delayed it.
Here’s what Jeffries had to say:
Leader Jeffries is from Brooklyn, so when summing up his opposition to President Trump’s policies and legislation, he used two words: “Hell no!”
“We were a ‘Hell No!’ last week, a ‘Hell No!’ this week, a ‘Hell No!’ yesterday, a ‘Hell No!’ today, and we’ll continue to be a ‘Hell No!’ on this effort to hurt the American people.”
Throughout his eight-hour and 44-minute speech, Jeffries talked about the impacts of the bill to calling out President Trump, to vowing to make the “big beautiful bill’ part of the 2026 midterm elections. Here are some quotes from Jeffries’ marathon floor speech.
“Got some folks in this town, they go to church and they pray on Sunday. P-R-A-Y. And then they come to Congress and they prey, P-R-E-Y, on the American people. I’m not down with that kind of faith.”
“We’re not here to bend the knee of any wannabe king. Mr. Speaker, we’re not here to bend the knee to any wannabe king.”
“Mr. Speaker, we don’t work for President Trump. We don’t work for JD Vance, we don’t work for Elon Musk. Mr. Speaker, as all of us prepare to cast this vote, I hope all of our Republican colleagues will come to the conclusion that we work for the American people. We work for the American people.”
This is how Leader Jeffries ended his speech.
Here’s how the White House is responding:
During the marathon speech, the White House pushed back on Jeffries’ criticism in a post on X/Twitter, saying in part, “He wants America to fail— but @POTUS will ensure America succeeds.”
The House is poised to take a final vote on the bill this afternoon and meet the President’s deadline of signing the bill on July 4th.