Earlier in the week, McCarthy faced angry conservatives in a House Republican conference meeting, outside criticisms of his leadership after 13 Republicans joined with Democrats to pass a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill, and press articles examining his fitness to be elected speaker.
"People rallied around his leadership," Rep. Greg Murphy of North Carolina told the Washington Examiner. "I think this is a foreshadowing, to be very honest, with what's going to happen in 2022 with Kevin's leadership. Just so many of the Democrats were shrinking, literally shrinking, when they're actually finding out what's in their own bill."
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McCarthy's dull speech through the night began at 8:37 p.m. on Thursday evening and ended at about 5:10 a.m. Friday morning. He made a point to pass the previous 8-hour, 7-minute House speech record set by Speaker Nancy Pelosi in 2018 in support of the Deferred Action for Child Arrivals program. Before this, McCarthy's longest floor speech was 20 minutes and 17 seconds, according to his staff.
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Unlike the Senate, the House has limits on floor debate for bills. Members speaking for or against the legislation are allotted time, usually a minute, on the House floor. Party leaders, though, are afforded the privilege of the "magic minute," allowing them to talk for as long as they wish without being interrupted.
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"This one minute feels almost like eight hours now," McCarthy said shortly after 5 a.m. while opposing the nearly $2 trillion social spending bill, which includes free preschool, new healthcare subsidies, paid family leaves, an extension of the expanded child tax credit, and green energy policies. "There's a reason why. This is a tipping point. This is a point of no coming back from."
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On the House floor for votes before Democrats passed the bill, and just a few hours after McCarthy completed his speech, Republican members greeted McCarthy with pats on the back in acknowledgment of his constant-speaking, always-standing feat.
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"A lot of people were very happy about it," said Wisconsin Rep. Glenn Grothman.
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"We were all encouraged to see him do it," said Ohio Rep. Warren Davidson.
Even the head of the hard-line conservative House Freedom Caucus, whose members had given McCarthy heat in a House Republican Conference meeting earlier in the week over imposing consequences for members who voted against the infrastructure bill, gave McCarthy a notable metaphorical fist-bump for his speech.
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