Democrats Complain About Disrupted Travel Plans After Hakeem Jeffries’ Hours-Long Speech

After House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ (D-NY) record-breaking, hours-long speech ahead of the passage of the “Big, Beautiful Bill,” his fellow Democrats complained anonymously about how his lengthy stunt interfered with travel plans ahead of July 4 weekend.

In anonymous comments to Axios, two disgruntled House Democrats grumbled about Jeffries leaving his colleagues in the dark about his plans to essentially filibuster the passage of President Donald Trump’s agenda through the budget reconciliation bill.

“No one is upset Hakeem wanted to do this, but to not tell members, ‘be prepared, book multiple flights, be flexible,’” one House Democrat told the outlet on condition of anonymity, complaining that rebooking flights around the July 4 holiday is particularly difficult.  

Another House Democrat, who also spoke anonymously, said that a “heads up would have been nice.” 

Jeffries gave an eight-and-a-half hour speech, surpassing the record for longest House speech in history held by then-Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) in 2021 to delay President Joe Biden’s “Build Back Better” vote.

Sources familiar with the matter told Axios Jeffries warned House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) of his plans before his speech.

“The House Democratic leader communicated that he was ‘just going to do an hour,’ one of the sources said, but that it ‘may be longer now,”‘ according to the report. 

Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.