Washington - It was a spectacle that will likely go down in the annals of resistance: In the early morning hours of July 3, 2025, Hakeem Jeffries, Democratic Minority Leader in the House of Representatives, took the floor - and did not leave. For over six hours, he spoke continuously against President Donald Trump’s massive tax and spending bill, which Republicans are pushing through Congress at breakneck speed. Jeffries’ speech became an act of protest, a political emergency brake - and a cry of outrage against what he called “a crime against the American people.”
The so-called “Big Beautiful Bill Act” spans 887 pages and lays out a radical fiscal overhaul: tax cuts for corporations and top earners, massive reductions to Medicaid, food assistance, and health programs, an end to solar subsidies, and billions in new funding for defense and deportations. Republicans are selling the bill as relief for families and an economic breakthrough - but a look at the official numbers tells a different story. According to an analysis by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the bill would add nearly $3.3 trillion to the national debt over the next nine years - an increase of about $1 trillion compared to the Senate’s previous version. The CBO also projected that by 2034, approximately 11.8 million Americans would lose their health insurance. The tax breaks are primarily designed for the wealthy - while the simultaneous elimination of food stamps, healthcare subsidies, and social benefits threatens to plunge millions of families into nothingness. Even the oft-repeated promise to eliminate taxes on Social Security benefits for retirees is missing from the bill.
“I never thought I’d be standing on the House floor saying this is a crime scene,” Jeffries said verbatim. “A crime scene against the health, safety, and well-being of the American people.” He spoke of hungry children, of veterans whose support is being taken away, of small business owners being pushed into insolvency by the bill’s bureaucratic overhaul. He read moving letters from constituents - including veterans fearing for their medications or businesswomen losing access to insurance. One of the most emotional moments was Jeffries’ reference to the case of Narciso Barranco - a gardener from California, father of three U.S. Marines, who was brutally beaten by Border Patrol agents in Santa Ana for resisting his deportation. A video shows Barranco being pepper-sprayed and struck with a baton. (We reported in detail on this case on June 24: https://kaizen-blog.org/en/ein-staat-mit-schwarzer-maske-wie-narciso-barranco-zum-gesicht-eines-repressiven-amerikas-wurde/). Jeffries made it clear: “No one in this country should be treated that way - especially not the father of three patriotic soldiers.” While Jeffries spoke, Republicans sat with packed bags. Since the Senate passed the bill by a narrow margin - with three Republican senators, including Rand Paul, voting no - Trump’s allies had been preparing for a final push in the House. Jeffries’ marathon speech merely delayed the vote, not stopped it. But the symbolic impact was enormous: Democrats showed they were ready to fight for every line. Even within Republican ranks, there was tension. The attempt to include a decade-long moratorium on state regulation of artificial intelligence in the bill failed due to resistance from conservative governors and think tanks. A coalition led by activist Mike Davis - supported by Steve Bannon and members of the Freedom Caucus - called the AI clause “amnesty for Big Tech.” The split revealed how deeply mistrusted Silicon Valley has become among the right-wing base. https://kaizen-blog.org/ein-staat-mit-schwarzer-maske-wie-narciso-barranco-zum-gesicht-eines-repressiven-amerikas-wurde/ ). Jeffries stellte klar: „So darf niemand in diesem Land behandelt werden – schon gar nicht der Vater von drei patriotischen Soldaten.“ Während Jeffries redete, saßen die Republikaner auf gepackten Taschen. Seit der Senat das Gesetz mit knapper Mehrheit verabschiedet hatte – drei republikanische Senatoren, darunter Rand Paul, stimmten dagegen –, bereiten sich Trumps Verbündete auf den finalen Durchmarsch im Repräsentantenhaus vor. Die Abstimmung wurde durch Jeffries’ Marathonrede nur hinausgezögert, nicht verhindert. Doch der symbolische Gehalt war enorm: Die Demokraten zeigten, dass sie bereit sind, um jede Zeile zu kämpfen. Auch innerhalb der republikanischen Reihen gab es Spannungen. Der Versuch, mit dem Gesetz auch gleich staatliche Regelungen für Künstliche Intelligenz für ein Jahrzehnt auszusetzen, scheiterte an Widerstand von konservativen Gouverneuren und Thinktanks. Ein Bündnis rund um Aktivist Mike Davis – unterstützt durch Steve Bannon und Teile des Freedom Caucus – bezeichnete die AI-Klausel als „Amnestie für Big Tech“. Der Bruch offenbart, wie groß das Misstrauen gegen Silicon Valley im rechten Lager inzwischen ist.
But Trump himself remains firm. The billions in social cuts, the tax breaks for corporations, the dismantling of environmental programs - he sells it all as a patriotic liberation. The bill is “beautiful,” a victory over the “deep state” and “left-wing bureaucracy.” The cuts to the healthcare system - described by Democrats as life-threatening - are, according to Trump’s party, simply a “realignment toward the truly needy.” By that, they mean pregnant women, children, and people with disabilities - and only them. The rest: allegedly abuse, allegedly waste. The contradictions could not be starker. While Trump speaks of renewal, the facts show erosion. While Republicans shout “fiscal discipline,” a massive deficit looms. And as America prepares to celebrate Independence Day, Congress is waging a battle over the nation’s social foundation. Trump’s bill is not just a budget package. It is an ideological megaproject - a frontal assault on the legacy of Obama and Biden, on Medicaid, on climate protection, on social justice. Jeffries’ blockade didn’t stop it - but it made it visible. For the country. For history. And for the farewell to Western values.
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