Jeffries held the House floor for more than eight hours Thursday, taking his “sweet time” with a marathon floor speech that delayed passage of Republicans’ massive tax and spending cuts legislation and gave his minority party a lengthy spotlight to excoriate what he called an “immoral” bill.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries spoke for 8 hours and 44 minutes on Thursday, delaying final passage of Republicans' budget bill.

At 4:53 a.m. on Thursday, Hakeem Jeffries took his place at the lectern on the House floor, bound by no time limit, and began reading letters from constituents in Republican districts who have expressed fear of President Donald Trump’s signature tax and spending bill becoming law.