What a snooze.
Democrats were forced to tap out one of their own members during House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ “magic minute” grandstanding speech to delay passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act — after she kept dozing off.
Seated two rows behind Jeffries (D-NY) for his final stand against the GOP megabill was Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) in prime view for the C-SPAN cameras, but the 79-year-old kept nodding off.
Jeffries (D-NY) had taken to the House floor to stall Republicans around 4:53 a.m. after the lower chamber worked through the night. About an hour and a half later, a Democrat tapped Kaptur on the shoulder and Rep. Sarah McBride (D-Del.) took her seat.
Almost all of the House Republicans had left the chamber for Jeffries’ speech, which was intended to stall for as long as possible.
Democrats made sure to have enough members around Jeffries in plain view for the public to see.
GOP leadership kept the House in session all through the night Wednesday into Thursday as it scrambled to get enough of its ultra-slim majority onboard to pass the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Some lawmakers had snuck off to their offices or other spaces to get a little shut-eye, while others attempted to power through the marathon session.
A little after 3 a.m. Republicans managed to break through a procedural deadlock after four holdouts acquiesced.
Following a brief debate, Jeffries tapped into his “magic minute,” which gives party leaders in the House the ability to address the chamber as long as they wish.
Jeffries read through various letters from constituents conveying their fears about the Medicaid and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) reforms in the megabill.
The top Democrat also ran through GOP criticism of the legislative bundle in a bid to maximize the delay.
Republicans had faced a bruising process to get President Trump’s marquee legislative agenda package across the finish line, having mounted an aggressive pressure campaign against members and working through the various competing interests within their caucus.
In May, multiple committees pulled all-nighters, and several lawmakers went viral for dozing off while working through key components of the mammoth bill.
Earlier this week, the Senate worked through the night as well so that Republicans could sort through their differences and finish modifying the megabill.
GOP leaders had set a goal of getting the One Big Beautiful Bill Act to Trump’s desk by the Fourth of July.
They leveraged the fast-approaching holiday and long hours to maximize pressure on their members to put aside their reservations and back the megabill.
Read the full article here
