House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) warned of a “deportation machine that will be unleashed on steroids” if the Republicans’ “big, beautiful bill” passes, as he delayed the vote by rambling for several hours on the floor.
The Democrat leader’s “magic minute” speech has been drawn out for over six hours as of 11:50 a.m. Thursday, in an effort to hold up Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) from calling the reconciliation bill up for a vote, BBC reported.
Johnson told reporters this morning that he believes he has enough support from Republicans to pass the budget.
At one point, Jeffries complained of something that may be looked at as a positive by Republican lawmakers and constituents who want a more secure immigration system, namely an accelerated “deportation machine”:
Speaking on behalf of those who have been “targeted” by immigration enforcement efforts, the congressman said, the “deportation machine” will be “unleashed on steroids by this one, big, ugly bill.”
– News Deputy Political Editor Bradley Jaye remarked that Jeffries’ complaint sounded like something White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller would have written:
Conservative influencer Libs of TikTok asked, “Is this supposed to be a bad thing? Sounds so freaking cool.”
Journalist Nick Sortor added that “Hakeem is doing a GREAT job selling the OBBB.”
