Sadiq S BhatWashington, DC — In a determined Democratic move to block President Donald Trump from claiming a July 4 victory, Minority Leader of the US House of Representatives, Hakeem Jeffries, is bringing the chamber to a standstill with a slow, deliberate speech that has dragged on for over six hours.
Jeffries was on Thursday using the rarely seen "magic minute" to stall the final vote on Trump's sweeping policy bill (Officially The One Big Beautiful Bill Act), and steal away his party's moment in the spotlight.
The bill, a centrepiece of Trump's post-reelection agenda, funds tax cuts and national security by cutting the federal safety net.
After days of resistance, House GOP holdouts backed it, clearing the way for a final vote before the president's self-imposed July 4 deadline.
Jeffries, standing at the centre of the chamber, appears in no hurry.
The New York Democrat is reading slowly from a thick binder filled with letters from Americans who, he says, would be harmed if the bill passes — the single mother with a disabled child in Ohio, the cancer survivor worried about losing coverage, the rural farmer from Missouri fearful that local hospitals will shut down.
That last one is a pointed jab: the farmer lives in the district of House Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith, who happens to be standing silently in the back of the room as Jeffries reads.
This isn't a filibuster, technically. But it may as well be.
The "magic minute" is a House rule that gives party leaders the right to speak for as long as they want, under the guise of a one-minute speech. It is rarely used, and almost never for this long.
A sense of theatre
Jeffries, pausing between phrases, stretching each thought, is turning time into a weapon, much to the chagrin of the White House.
The House chamber also reflects the slow tension. Democrats, seated behind Jeffries, rise every few minutes to applaud. Some wander out for coffee, then return.
There's motion, but little urgency. Republicans are scattered across the other side, many slumped in their chairs, thumbing through phones or murmuring among themselves. There's a sense of theatre — and fatigue.
Speaker Mike Johnson made a quiet appearance earlier, chatting with members, but left before Jeffries had even hit his second hour.
The megabill in question, a sprawling package of spending cuts, tax code revisions and regulatory overhauls, is being pushed as a fix to inflation and federal "waste."
Democrats call it a wrecking ball. Medicaid is the biggest flashpoint: analysts say millions could be pushed off coverage. There are also deep cuts to food assistance and climate programmes, along with major tax relief for corporations.
With no power to stop the bill from passing, House Democrats are turning to time and optics.
The bill passed the US Senate on July 1, 2025, narrowly in a 51–50 vote, with Vice President JD Vance casting the tie-breaking vote.
Jeffries' speech in the House may not alter the math. But it delays the moment. The Democrats aim to delay Trump's crowning glory.
Not surprisingly, it draws the cameras. It puts faces — and stories — on numbers.
At some point, Jeffries will yield. When he does, Speaker Johnson is expected to speak briefly before the vote is called.
"We're excited to get this done. If Hakeem would stop talking, we’ll get the job done for the American people," Johnson told reporters on Thursday morning.
But for now, Jeffries stands, voice steady, pausing often, not to collect his thoughts, but to run out the clock.
In a chamber built for speed — with timers and gongs and hard rules — the "magic minute" is one of the last tools of dissent.
"I will take my sweet time," Jeffries vowed as he uses every second of it in the US Congress.
