McCarthy Makes Dems Delay Vote on Biden's $1.75 Trillion Plan in Record-Breaking House Speech
13:29 GMT 19.11.2021 (Updated: 05:37 GMT 30.04.2023)
© REUTERS / ALEXANDER DRAGO
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The previous record-breaking filibuster-style speech on the House floor was given by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi when she spoke for eight hours and seven minutes, demanding Republicans hold a vote on an immigration reform bill.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy late Thursday night delivered a speech that lasted over eight and a half hours, delaying a vote on Biden's "Build Back Better" act.
The long speech appeared to be effective since the vote was postponed and the Democrats "have left the Capitol for the night", as McCarthy proudly informed his followers on Twitter.
"If they think I'm going to stop, I'm not" appeared on the House Republican leader's Twitter account after midnight, as he was several hours into his speech. "It's too important for the American people to know what's in this Socialist Spending Scam".
McCarthy's lengthy declamation broke the previous record set on the House floor by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who only lasted for eight hours and seven minutes when speaking in order to demand that GOP leaders allow a vote on an immigration reform bill in 2018.
The House GOP leader shared his entire marathon speech - which lasted 8 hours and 32 minutes - on his Twitter account, arguing that Democrats, who "rejected roughly 600 common-sense amendments from Republicans" on the "Build Back Better" agenda could use another run-through on "many of those amendments".
Democrats rejected roughly 600 common-sense amendments from Republicans on their Build Back Better agenda. They decided they’d rather go it alone with their one party rule.
— Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) November 19, 2021
So 8 hours in, I’m reading through many of those amendments. https://t.co/OCJJ0XaXzU
These eight hours, hardly enjoyed by the Democrats, had several hilarious moments. McCarthy piqued the previous holder of the record, Nancy Pelosi, several times. At one point, receiving some new papers from a colleague, the House minority leader smirked, prompting chuckles in the audience, saying: "Madam Speaker, I've got a new binder".
.@GOPLeader is still going! pic.twitter.com/Gvt5nLydH7
— Erin Perrine (@ErinMPerrine) November 19, 2021
McCarthy also told Pelosi that he was filibustering while having "a little headache" after receiving his vaccine booster shot, noting that "this is too important" for him to stop due to minor jab after-effects.
Pelosi was reported to have given her 2018 speech while wearing four-inch stilletos. McCarthy, however, appeared to be determined to eventually break her record, saying at some point in his speech that he is "competitive".
He concluded his speech by Friday morning, at 5:10 a.m. local time, joking that "this one minute feels almost like eight hours now". His effort prevented the Democrats from taking legislative action on the massive "Build Back Better" spending agenda that they hoped to vote on Thursday - the last day before the House goes into Thanksgiving recess.
Debates Around 'Build Back Better' Agenda
The so-called "Build Back Better" package that envisages $1.75 trillion in social and climate spending has been fending off severe criticism from Republicans, who blasted the bill as a "reckless spending spree" and warned of harsh consequences for the US economy should the plan be signed into law.
Additional concerns were raised in the wake of the record 6.2% inflation faced by the United States, a high not seen in three decades.
Moreover, Republicans don't appear to be the only ones worried, as moderate Democrat, Senator Joe Manchin last week said that "the threat posed by record inflation to the American people is not ‘transitory’ and is instead getting worse".
"From the grocery store to the gas pump, Americans know the inflation tax is real and DC can no longer ignore the economic pain Americans feel every day", he said.
President Biden, however, has insisted that the "Build Back Better" bill "will reduce the deficit over the long term".
"Congress has a tool at its disposal to lower costs for families right away: The Build Back Better Act. All we've got to do is pass it", Biden said.
The president and his fellow Democrats have consistently argued that the plan is "paid for" and will create "millions of jobs" and boost infrastructure investments.
