Trump helped Speaker Mike Johnson pressure GOP holdouts into flipping their no votes to allow the measure to go forward in time to meet the president's self-imposed July Fourth deadline.
House Speaker Mike Johnson takes the podium ahead of final vote
Rep. Jason Smith, a Missouri Republican, stood to speak after House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
"What we just heard can be defined in one word: a bunch of hogwash," Smith said.
House Speaker Mike Johnson is now speaking, saying he will be briefer than his Democratic colleague.
"Ronald Reagan said one time that no speech should be longer than 20 minutes. And unlike the Democrat leader, I'm going to honor my colleagues time and be a little more brief than that," Johnson said.
Jul 03, 2025, 1:45 PM EDT
House Democrats vow to 'press on' as Jeffries wraps remarks slamming Trump bill
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries ended his record-breaking speech by quoting John Lewis and Martin Luther King Jr.
"Dr King said that if you can't fly, run. If you can't run, walk. If you can't walk, crawl, but at all times, press on and keep pressing," he said. "And so as I take my seat, I just want to say to the American people that no matter what the outcome is, on this singular day, we're gonna press on."
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries finished his his record breaking speech on the floor of the House of Representatives in Washington, July 3, 2025.
House of Representatives
"We're going to press on for our children, press on for our seniors, press on for our veterans. Press on for our unions. Press on for our farmers. Press on for our dreamers. Press on for working class Americans. Press on for the middle class. Press on for all who aspire to be part of the middle class. Press on for the poor. Press on for the sick. Press on for the afflicted. Press on for the least. Press on for the lost. Press on for the left behind. Press on for the rule of law. Press on for the American way of life. Press on for democracy. We're going to press on until victory is won," he concluded.
House Democrats, in every example, repeated back to Jeffries: "Press on."
After he finished, Democrats gave Jeffries a loud standing ovation and chanted his name.
Jul 03, 2025, 1:28 PM EDT
Jeffries sets record for longest House speech ever
At 1:26 p.m. on Thursday, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries broke the record for the longest House floor remarks in U.S. history, surpassing the previous mark that was set by Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy in 2021.
"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 my Republican colleagues will come to the conclusion that we work for the American people," Jeffries said as he drew close to the record.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is congratulated after finishing his record breaking speech on the floor of the House of Representatives in Washington, July 3, 2025.
House of Representatives
House Democrats surrounded him as he spoke, standing and clapping and shaking their heads in agreement as he slammed the bill's impact on health care and food assistance programs.
"Shame on this institution if this bill passes. That's not America, we're better than this. We are better, we are better," Jeffries said.
Jul 03, 2025, 1:22 PM EDT
Jeffries says fight is 'not over' as he nears record
Approaching the record for the longest House floor speech ever, House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said this is not the end for Democrats in fighting for the American people.
"We gotta fight a lot of battles on behalf of the American people. It's not over," Jeffries said.
"This is just one of them," he added, "but we wanted to make sure that the American people had an opportunity to fully and more completely understands, in the light of day, just how damaging this one big, ugly bill will be to the American people."
