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.
BREAKING: Democratic leader @NancyPelosi ends record-breaking speech on House floor after 8 hours, 7 minutes https://t.co/niFe8QvrsJ
— Fox News (@FoxNews) February 7, 2018
***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.
Rep. @NancyPelosi: "So I'm going to go on as long as my 'leadership minute' allows."
— CSPAN (@cspan) February 7, 2018
Leader Pelosi began speaking on the House Floor at 10:04am ET. Watch LIVE on C-SPAN https://t.co/uNLfEP8AKE pic.twitter.com/Fo345sYSq1
The majority and minority leaders can talk for as long as they like, even if they're only yielded a minute of time.
— Amelia Frappolli (@AmeliaFrappolli) February 7, 2018
So, now Pelosi is reading entire stories from the Bible, saying, "I'm going to go on as long as my 'leadership minute' allows."
Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi is coming up on an hour of speaking on the House floor reading letters from DACA recipients/eligible individuals.
— Phil Mattingly (@Phil_Mattingly) February 7, 2018
The freedom allowed by the loosely defined "leadership minute" is now on full display