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A procedural rule that allows leadership of both the majority
and minority parties in the House of Representatives to have
unlimited speaking time at the end of debate.
Remember the Time
As debate concludes on legislative business, the speaker,
majority leader, and minority leader can be recognized for a
“magic minute.” Despite the name, the magic minute gives
the chamber’s three highest-ranking officials unlimited time
and an unrestricted platform. This unique power is not formally
codified in the House rules originally set by
Thomas Jefferson. Instead, the magic minute is a tradition of the
House often used as a type of substitute for the Senate’s
filibuster.
Time After Time
The magic minute, while seldomly used, has been used at critical
junctures for the House. The earliest example in modern history
came in 1909 when Minority Leader Clark (D-MO) spoke for just over
five hours in protest of proposed tax reforms. In 2018, after
President Trump suspended an Obama-era program that provided
DREAMers with certain protections, Minority Leader Pelosi (D-CA) spoke for more than eight
hours to challenge the action. Minority Leader McCarthy (R-CA)
broke Pelosi’s record (by about 20 minutes) when delivering a speech
criticizing what would become the Inflation Reduction Act.
If I Could Turn Back Time
The magic minute played a role again last month as Congress
raced to avert a government shutdown hours before the deadline.
After House Republicans released their legislation only minutes
before the vote to keep the government open, Democrats deployed a
series of tools to give themselves additional time to read the
bill. Minority Leader Jeffries (D-NY) utilized a magic minute and
spoke for an hour before Democrats proceeded to vote for the
bill.
Federal funding now runs out in mid-November. With the ongoing
struggle among House Republicans to find a new speaker paired with
the highly partisan bickering that has marked the FY2024
appropriations process, another government shutdown looms on
the horizon.
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