House Democrats delay vote on massive spending bill

House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy has been speaking for longer than three hours, and it's unclear when he will stop.

McCarthy started speaking at 8:38 p.m. ET.

Under the procedures of the House, the majority leader and the minority leader get what's called a "Magic Minute" at the end of floor debate. That means lawmakers can speak for as long as they want.

McCarthy has been railing on all aspects of the Democratic Party and the Biden administration, delaying the final vote of the Build Back Better Act.

Some context: Nancy Pelosi, as minority leader in 2018, employed a similar tactic, speaking for more than eight hours on the House floor in a speech about young undocumented immigrants. Her speech was the longest in House history.

Based on the Congressional Budget Office's analysis, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates the cost of the Build Back Better bill is $2.4 trillion and would add $160 billion to deficits over the next decade and $750 billion to deficits over the next five years.

Where things stand on Capitol Hill: House Democrats are gearing up to pass President Biden's plan to dramatically expand the social safety net with leadership racing to secure a legislative victory for the party even as major obstacles await in the Senate.

Democrats had been waiting for cost estimates from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office before voting on the legislation after moderates demanded the information.

CBO released its final scoring for the bill early Thursday evening, estimating that the package "would result in a net increase in the deficit totaling $367 billion over the 2022-2031 period, not counting any additional revenue that may be generated by additional funding for tax enforcement," according to a summary released.

The White House is now trying to make the case that the bill will be fully paid for, despite the CBO analysis showing a shortfall.

CNN's Clare Foran and Morgan Rimmer contributed reporting to this post. 

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s press office has called House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy's nearly two-hour floor speech a “temper tantrum” tonight in a statement.

Democrats continue to interrupt House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a Republican from California, while he has been speaking for more than an hour ahead on the vote on the Build Back Better Act.

McCarthy suggested that since Democrats are so comfortable removing members from committees — such as GOP Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar — that those who continue to interrupt his speech should be removed from the House floor.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a Republican from California, has now been talking for more than an hour.

Under the rules, he is allowed to speak for an unlimited amount of time before a vote can be held on the Build Back Better Act.

Moderate Democratic Rep. Jared Golden of Maine is a “no” on Build Back Better, according to the Bangor Daily News.

Golden also told the paper that Thursday’s vote was not “the final word,” adding, “I will continue to stay at the table and negotiate for the best deal possible until the very last opportunity.” 

Democrats can afford to lose a total of three votes. Golden is so far the only official no vote.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a Republican from California, is currently giving a long speech on the floor to delay when the House can vote on Build Back Better Act.

Some Democrats jeered McCarthy and said, “That’s all right. I got all night.”

The group of Democrats responded “so do we,” adding on Build Back Better, ”we’ve been waiting for this a long time.”

Rep. Kurt Schrader, a Democrat from Oregon, tweeted that he will vote for the Build Back Better Act tonight.

Read the tweet:

The Democratic House Majority Whip, Rep. James Clyburn, of South Carolina, expects that there will be some Democrats who will vote no on the Build Back Better plan.

Clyburn said it’s his “expectation” that the caucus will lose Democratic votes, adding that he could think of “one or two people who are wedded to the CBO [Congressional Budget Office] numbers.”

Clyburn also said that he was expecting to lose several votes on the rule for the Build Back Better plan that was held on Nov. 5 but the caucus did not lose any. 

On tonight’s vote, Clyburn said “we’ll just have to wait and see.”