Hakeem Jeffries was on fire in Congress that day, speaking from 4:00 a.m. to almost 2:00 p.m., for more than 8 hours without stopping, breaking the record for continuous speeches in the House of Representatives. Do you think he was tired? He was a marathon champion in talking.
Why did he work so hard? In fact, it was to stop the Trump team from forcing a vote on the “Big and Beautiful Bill” while the iron was hot. The Democrats were “deeply disgusted” with the bill, and the core reason was quite direct:
On the one hand, Jeffries used the “magic minute” procedure of the House of Representatives, which was a bit like a “magician” – in fact, everyone could talk as much as they wanted, and no one would keep track of how long they talked. As a result, he really talked for more than 8 hours, and the original plan to vote in the early morning was delayed. To put it bluntly, this is to disrupt the Republican rhythm with rules, delay time, and delay until you are annoyed.
On the other hand, he is not just talking. In his speech, he was crazy about the bill, focusing on cutting Medicaid and social welfare, saying that these clauses are very harmful to the poor. He also cited many stories of ordinary people to win the public’s sympathy and support.
In fact, this matter is not a one-man show by Jeffries alone – the Democratic Party had a 16-hour marathon debate in the Senate two days ago, and submitted a bunch of amendments, which were all dragged out and difficult to deal with. This time, Jeffries just moved this delaying tactic to the House of Representatives to continue to torture his opponents.
Finally, don’t forget that these 8 hours and 46 minutes are not only a time number, but also a symbolic event for the Democratic Party to show its muscles to the Trump administration. You can imagine that with such a big scene, the morale of the party must have been greatly boosted, and the media also reported it. Who wouldn’t take a second look?
Although the bill was finally passed, and Jeffries’ “mouth-to-mouth” failed to change the fate, the whole process can very well illustrate how much the two parties in the United States are fighting over key bills, and how these rules in Congress have been turned into weapons for fighting. American politics is very lively.
