JULY 3, 2025 |

Photo – Donald Trump – Courtesy Britannica website

In Washington, D.C., Democrats lobbied against giving U.S. citizens a sizable tax cut Thursday morning. As of 10 a.m. Mountain Time, noon on the East Coast, House Speaker Hakeem Jefferies of Brooklyn, NY, stalled a House vote on pending tax cuts with a marathon speech that began at 5:00 a.m.

He appeared far from finished with other Democrats rotating into the seats behind him to make the chamber look full.

The delay came after GOP leaders corralled enough holdouts in their party by early Thursday morning to clear the way for a final vote today on what President Donald Trump had called a “big, beautiful bill.”

The final tally overnight was 219 to 213 with only one GOP no vote: Representative Brian Fitzpatrick, a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania attorney.

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and President Trump worked through Wednesday convincing holdouts in the House Freedom Caucus who threatened to block the bill. CSPAN ran a static shot with the vote stalled for much of the day.

Some politicians whispered to reporters through the night that Republican leadership did not have the votes in hand. The behind-the-scenes lobbying went on into the early morning hours.

President Trump kept his schedule clear and had no public events planned for Wednesday, leaving time to win over holdouts.

The multi-trillion-dollar bill would unlock tax cuts and funding boosts for national security, partly paid for by the largest cut to pet Democrat welfare programs.

The deeply divided House finally voted to advance the bill in the early hours this morning after GOP leaders won over key holdouts. GOP leaders believe they now have the votes to pass the bill when it comes to a full floor vote, but the outcome is not yet certain.

The final vote is scheduled to occur following the lengthy speech by Representative Jeffries, who is hoping to delay the vote on tax cuts for Americans. Jeffries was still going strong 7.5 hours into his speech.

The President is expected to sign the bill immediately once it passes.

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