Congress breaks record after record in war over Trump's agenda
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Illustration: Lindsey Bailey/Axios
A record-shattering Senate speech. A House vote held open longer than ever before — twice, in two weeks. Those are just some of the milestones that Congress has surpassed so far this year.
Why it matters: The 119th Congress is shaping up as one of the most grueling in recent memory, underscoring the stamina that grinding through massive legislation like President Trump's "big, beautiful bill" requires of both supporters and opponents.
- "I am tired of making history. I just want normal Congress, but some people have forgotten what that looks like," House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said when the House logged its longest-ever vote this month.
Driving the news: Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) in April set the record for the longest Senate speech at 25 hours and four minutes, toppling the mark set by South Carolina segregationist Sen. Strom Thurmond.
- Thurmond spoke for 24 hours and 18 minutes against the Civil Rights Act of 1957 as a Democrat, but later became a Republican.
- In the House, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) this month gave a record-setting 8-hour, 44-minute speech protesting the "big, beautiful bill," surpassing then-Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy's (R-Calif.) 8-hour, 32-minute speech in 2021.
Last Wednesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) broke the record for the lower chamber's longest vote in history — for the second time in as many weeks.
- Johnson's strategy for dealing with his razor-thin majority has become holding votes open for hours as he tries to sway opponents in his own party.
- The latest record-setting vote was on a resolution setting the terms of debate on the GENIUS Act, which would establish a regulatory framework for stablecoin issuers.
- The standoff lasted nearly 10 hours. But the bill eventually passed, and Trump signed it.
The Senate, meanwhile, has already tied the record set in 1995 for the most vote-a-ramas in a single year when it held its fourth this month. That was on a measure taking back $9 billion in federal spending — including funds marked for PBS, NPR and foreign aid.
- Now, Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has made clear he is willing to test senators' pain tolerance in his pursuit of confirming more of Trump's nominees.
- He has warned senators to be ready for possible votes on nominations this weekend, potentially taking them into August before they recess.
Context: When the president's party controls Congress, non-election years — particularly the president's first one in office — are typically more legislatively grueling.
- That's the best chance to get big pieces of legislation over the finish line before midterm campaigns heat up.
- The first two years of President Obama's first term coincided with the most productive Congress in decades and yielded several major pieces of legislation, including the Affordable Care Act and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street overhaul.
The bottom line: With a government funding deadline looming in September, there's likely little rest in store for lawmakers when they return from their summer break.
