Tipsheet

Pelosi Begins 'House Filibuster' to Demand Vote on Protections for Dreamers

UPDATE: Pelosi has ended her speech at 8 hours and 7 minutes, making it the longest-continuous speech in House history. The previous record was held by Rep. Champ Clark (D-MO) back in 1909.

***Original Post***

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) launched her own sort of filibuster on the House floor Wednesday morning to insist on a vote in the House on protections for Dreamers.

While lawmakers can only filibuster in the Senate, not the House, Pelosi has the power to speak at length on the floor because of her leadership status.

Both she and House Speaker Paul Ryan use their “leadership minute” to speak on the floor and actually speak for several minutes which they are permitted to do because of their status.

At 10:04 a.m., Pelosi announced that she was "going to go on as long as my leadership minute allows."

It is not clear when Pelosi will stop speaking. She has been reading the stories of individual Dreamers, entire stories from the Bible, and opining on the urgency of a House vote on DACA protections.