House Democrats on Friday will vote to pass President Joe Biden’s $1.85 trillion social welfare spending bill, postponing consideration after the top Republican took control of the floor with an eight-hour speech condemning the legislation and the rest of the Democratic agenda.
Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California stood up in the well of the House around 8:30 p.m. Thursday to deliver criticism of the Build Back Better plan, which is the centerpiece of Biden’s economic agenda. It would create a broad array of new government programs and green energy policies and would implement new tax hikes.
Republicans unanimously oppose the bill, arguing it is reckless and will hurt the economy with new taxes and massive spending that will further increase inflation.
Democrats are poised to pass the massive spending bill on Friday morning using their bare majority.
But the GOP has no power to stop the bill from passing.
Instead, McCarthy forced irritated Democrats to postpone Thanksgiving recess plans, including important fundraisers, by dragging the debate into Friday. Instead of wrapping up in about one minute, as is traditional, he kept talking — and talking.
While there is no formal filibuster in the House, McCarthy’s speech broke a record set in 2018 by then-House Minority Leader — and now speaker — Nancy Pelosi. The California Democrat at the time spoke for eight hours in favor of legalizing so-called Dreamers, people brought to the United States from abroad as children who are not citizens.
“This one-minute feels almost like eight hours,” McCarthy said, wrapping up the all-nighter. “This is the longest one-minute I have ever given. It’s the longest one-minute ever given in this body. There’s a reason why. This is a tipping point. This is a point of not coming back. The American people have spoken, but unfortunately, the Democrats have not listened.”
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Democratic lawmakers occasionally heckled McCarthy, and some on Twitter lambasted him with criticism and insults over his broadside of the spending bill, which they labeled a “tantrum.”
Democrats will bring up the bill Friday morning and will first hold a vote on the GOP’s only chance to amend the bill. Republicans plan to force Democrats to vote on language that would prevent IRS agents from snooping in bank accounts for tax evasion.
After that vote, which is expected to fail, Democrats will pass the spending bill, sending it to a much less certain future in the Senate.
The parliamentarian must complete an analysis of the House-passed bill to ensure it conforms to the rules of a budgetary tactic Senate Democrats plan to use to pass the legislation with 51 votes instead of the usual 60 votes.
A provision to provide legal status to millions of illegal immigrant workers is among the provision the parliamentarian may reject.
The bill must also meet the approval of skeptical Senate centrists Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona.
Manchin told reporters this week he’s worried the high cost of the bill will prolong or worsen inflation that is hitting his constituents hard.
He’s also opposed to the paid leave provision in the House bill, arguing the country cannot afford a new entitlement when Social Security and Medicare are on shaky financial footing.
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, told reporters he plans to bring up the bill before Christmas.
