Some of his fellow Democrats were less than impressed by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ (D-NY) eight-hour-long speech.
Jeffries may have set a record for the longest House floor speech in history in an effort to delay the passage of President Donald Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill.”
However, some Democrats are unimpressed by the move, especially as Jeffries’ marathon remarks threw their Independence Day travel plans into chaos.
Jeffries spoke for eight-and-a-half hours on the House floor ahead of the narrow passage of Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill.”
The speech eclipsed the 2021 record previously held by then-House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA).
While Jeffries framed the speech as a protest against the Republican-led budget reconciliation package, some members of his own caucus were left blindsided and frustrated.
In comments provided anonymously to Axios, two House Democrats criticized Jeffries for failing to inform members ahead of time that his speech would delay the vote.
The lengthy speech also delayed their departures ahead of the July 4 holiday.
“No one is upset Hakeem wanted to do this, but to not tell members, ‘be prepared, book multiple flights, be flexible,’” one Democrat told Axios.
“Rebooking flights around the July 4 holiday is brutal.”
Another Democrat echoed the frustration:
“A heads up would have been nice.”
#BREAKING: Even House Democrats are annoyed at Democrat ‘Leader’ Hakeem Jeffries’ boring pointless monologue
Entitled Democrats whine to Axios he is ruining their vacation plans pic.twitter.com/CQTMsOXrWt
— Ben Petersen (@bennpetersen) July 3, 2025
According to Axios, Jeffries did provide House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) with a vague warning before taking the floor, telling him he planned to speak for “just an hour.”
However, he also reportedly hinted that it “may be longer now.”
The speech served as a symbolic filibuster effort against Trump’s sweeping legislative package.
The bill includes tax reforms, expanded immigration enforcement, energy deregulation, and structural changes to Medicaid and food assistance.
Despite the theatrics, the legislation passed the House in the early morning hours by a narrow 218–214 vote, with two Republicans joining Democrats in opposition.
Jeffries’ move comes as part of an emerging pattern of partisan protest speeches.
His predecessor, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), famously held the previous House floor speech record until McCarthy broke it in 2021, also in protest of budget reconciliation proceedings.
But unlike past floor speeches that unified party messaging, Jeffries’ speech appears to have caught members off guard, especially as many were expecting to leave town for the July 4 recess shortly after the vote.
Democrat leadership has not publicly responded to the internal frustration.
Jeffries has yet to issue any statement addressing the complaints.
With President Trump expected to sign the bill into law ahead of Independence Day, Jeffries’ protest speech is unlikely to alter the bill’s trajectory.
Nevertheless, it has succeeded in stirring up frustration within his own ranks.
Be the first to comment