Former President Obama is trying to remain relevant as he urged Americans to call their representatives and demand that they vote against President Donald Trump’s megabill as the House nears voting on the bill.
“More than 16 million Americans are at risk of losing their health care because Republicans in Congress are rushing to pass a bill that would cut federal funding for Medicaid and weaken the Affordable Care Act. If the House passes this bill, it will increase costs and hurt working class families for generations to come. Call your representative today and tell them to vote no on this bill,” Obama wrote on X.
The top Democrat in the House of Representatives has temporarily halted the progress on President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill”.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., began speaking in the chamber minutes before 5 a.m. and appears to be poised for hours more on Thursday
One GOP lawmaker told Fox News Digital that Jeffries was seen arriving with multiple binders, one of which he read from for roughly three hours. If the rest of the binders also hold portions of his speech, the New York Democrat could keep the House floor paused into the afternoon.
He is able to command the House floor via a “magic minute,” a privilege granted to party leaders in the chamber that allows them to speak for an unlimited amount of time.
It comes after the House of Representatives voted to advance Trump’s $3.3 trillion “big, beautiful bill” to its final phase in Congress, overcoming fears of a potential Republican mutiny.
It’s a significant victory for House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., though the fight is not over yet.
Lawmakers voted to proceed with debate on the mammoth-sized Trump agenda bill in the early hours of Thursday – a mechanism known as a “rule vote” – teeing up a final House-wide vote sometime later Thursday morning.
The House adopted the rules for debate on the measure in a dramatic 219 to 213 vote, with all but moderate Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., voting to proceed.
Next comes a vote on the actual measure, likely sometime on Thursday. But the timing is largely contingent on when Jeffries finishes speaking.
Republicans are passing the bill through a process known as budget reconciliation, which typically enables the ruling party to totally ignore the minority.