WASHINGTON (CN) — Thanks to a more than four-hour rambling speech from House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy that touched on everything from immigration and the cost of the $1.85 trillion Build Back Better Act to McCarthy's friendship with Elon Musk and what would have happened if Abraham Lincoln had not been assassinated, the House delayed a vote, agreeing to reconvene Friday morning for a formal vote on the massive social spending legislation.
McCarthy's soliloquy was a tactic to delay a vote that was scheduled for Thursday on the Build Back Better Act, a hallmark of Biden's presidential agenda and a historic attempt to expand the social safety net to an extent not seen since Lyndon B. Johnson's Great Society programs of the 1960s.
The California Republican was able to speak for an unlimited amount of time because of a House rule known as "the magic minute," that provides the speaker and majority and minority leaders with as much speaking time as they want during floor debate.
Throughout his speech, Democrats jeered, occasionally leaving the chamber and calling for a vote.
"I don't know if they think that they've left I'm going to stop, cause I'm not," McCarthy said after Democrats began leaving the chamber at 12:30 a.m., nearly four hours into his oration.
The core of his speech focused on the sheer size of the legislation, blasting it as excessive spending and labeling its creation of new programs such as free universal preschool and paid family leave as socialist.
McCarthy also slammed the recent addition of a program that would provide work visas for some immigrants without legal documentation, claiming Democrats want to allow criminals and drug dealers into the country.
“I guarantee you that, no matter the time frame, all the new Washington spending in this bill is only the beginning of disaster being struck upon us," McCarthy said near the start of the speech. “If I sound angry, I am.”
While parts of his speech touched on the legislation, McCarthy also rambled on about the Berlin Wall, crime rates, and an anecdote about his friendship with Elon Musk and McCarthy's own inability to afford a Tesla.
Democrats' frustration with McCarthy's delay tactics were palpable, with McCarthy pausing multiple times throughout the night as lawmakers chattered in the background.
"I delivered a baby in less time," Representative Grace Meng, a Democrat from New York, tweeted during the speech.
In a press release titled "Is Kevin McCarthy OK?," Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's office said McCarthy's speech represented "the very best attacks" Republicans had against the legislation.
Pelosi's office referred to McCarthy's testimony on the floor as a temper tantrum.
"We’re glad we’re not the only ones who can’t follow Minority Leader McCarthy’s meandering rant that has nothing to do with the Build Back Better Act," the release said.
Pelosi herself currently holds the record for the longest speech on the House floor, which she set in 2018 when she spoke for more than eight hours asking Republican leaders to vote on an immigration bill.
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat from New York, went live on Instagram throughout much of the speech, critiquing McCarthy's rambling monologue and tweeting of his expansive binder that guided his words.
"I'm trying to figure out what he is saying, y'all," Ocasio-Cortez said at one point.
The House had planned to vote on the Build Back Better Act earlier this month, but agreed to delay a vote until the final version of the bill had received a score from the Congressional Budget Office to determine the official revenue and cost of the bill.
The CBO released a final price estimate for the bill ahead of the vote Thursday, determining that it would increase the deficit by $160 billion over 10 years, a finding in slight conflict with the White House's assertion that the legislation paid for itself and, in fact, would reduce the deficit.
The CBO estimate was initially seen as the last barrier to a vote until McCarthy stood his ground on the House floor well into Friday morning.
Not wanting to pass another piece of massive legislation in the dead of night, having passed the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill at midnight on a Friday earlier this month, Democrats agreed to reconvene the House Friday morning for a vote on the social spending bill.
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