Brandon Drenon
Reporting from the US Capitol

Democrats are now standing around Jeffries, cheering him on as he comes within minutes of breaking the record.

Their energy levels are rising, gestures growing more animated, marked by constant chants of "take your time, your sweet time" and loud, extended bursts of applause after key lines.

There must be a sense that the end is near. Even Republican lawmakers are trickling back onto the House floor.

Cai Pigliucci
Reporting from Washington DC

Image source, Reuters / US House of Representatives

Democratic House leader Hakeem Jeffries has been speaking for more than eight hours as lawmakers prepare for a final vote on Republicans' spending bill.

He's using time allotted to him on the floor by what's known as the "magic minute." Eight hours is a lot longer than a minute - that's because under this cleverly nicknamed rule in the US House of Representatives, leadership can speak for as long as they want.

Jeffries is using it as a delay tactic, similar to the way a filibuster is used in the Senate. You might remember that Corey Booker, a Democrat from New Jersey, set the Senate record for the longest-ever filibuster speech earlier this year, when he spoke on the floor for more than 25 hours.

But the House record for this leadership speech is currently held by Kevin McCarthy, the Republican then-leader who spoke for more than eight hours to delay a Democratic bill back in 2021.

Jeffries is getting close to that record. He's got a binder full of notes in front him and has been slowly paging through them, periodically switching to new binders when he runs out of topics to discuss.

He's taken a few sips of water but has otherwise been speaking continuously, often getting standing ovations from his Democratic colleagues seated behind him. According to House rules, he cannot leave the floor, or the speech will be over and Republicans will take back control of proceedings. That's why Jeffries hasn't moved from the podium since he started speaking this morning.

Once he wraps up, Republicans can then plough ahead with their vote on the so-called Big Beautiful Bill.

If Jeffries wants to beat McCarthy and set a new record, he'll need to keep speaking past 13:26 EDT (18:26BST). He's getting closer by the minute.

Brandon Drenon
Reporting from the US Capitol

"As I perhaps approach the end", Hakeem Jeffries says, pausing briefly, "of this particular journey".

The line draws a few laughs from the rows of Democrats that have been seated behind him for the last seven-plus hours he's been speaking.

The other side of the House floor - Republican territory - was silent. Not because they didn't find the joke funny, but because you can count the total number of them sitting there on a single hand.

Jeffries appears to be going for the record (8 hours 32 minutes), which he's due to hit in about 30 minutes.

His Democratic colleagues, appearing tired at times, periodically find the energy to laugh at his jokes, stand and applaud his best lines, and encourage their leader to, in their words, "keep going".

Brandon Drenon
Reporting from the US Capitol

South Carolina Republican Congressman Ralph Norman recently entered the House floor amid Jeffries' ongoing speech.

Norman was one of the then-many Republican holdouts who expressed outrage at the Senate's version of the bill. Norman had called it a "non-starter".

On Wednesday, Norman held strong, telling me and a group of reporters that he had more questions than answers.

Republicans can only afford to lose three votes in the House, and in that conversation Norman said there were about 25 congress members who, like himself, were still unhappy.

In the early hours of Thursday morning, his "no" became a "yes" on the procedural vote, which he had previously said would not be the case.

The bill didn't change overnight. But Norman was one of the Republican representatives to visit Trump at the White House.

Judging by his cordial interactions with his colleagues on the floor now, it may be a sign that he's been convinced to vote for the bill when the time comes, despite his concerns.

Brandon Drenon
Reporting from the US Capitol

I just spoke with House Speaker Mike Johnson, the man in charge of delivering Trump's bill to his desk in less than 24 hours.

A few days ago, the task of meeting the 4 July deadline seemed like somewhat of a tall order. Now, Johnson thinks he will deliver ahead of schedule.

"We're going to beat (the deadline) by a day," Johnson says with confidence, just outside the House floor.

When I ask him the importance of meeting the deadline, which other Republican lawmakers have described as "rushed" and "arbitrary", Johnson tells me: "Because what more appropriate a time to pass the big, beautiful bill for America than on Independence Day?

"I talked to the president about an hour ago about a signing ceremony and they're working on that. We'll do that on July 4, potentially, maybe right before the B-2s fly," he says.

"I mean you just can't script this any better."

The House of Representatives has now been in session for around 27 hours straight at the Capitol - and the long hours are clearly starting to take their toll on lawmakers, staff and the gathered press.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has been speaking for nearly seven hours on the House floor.

He could hypothetically keep giving his speech for as long as he wants, and said previously that "I'm planning to take my sweet time".

He's using what's known as the "magic minute", a privilege offered to the House speaker, majority and minority leaders that allows them to deliver speeches for as long as they want. Others in the House are bound to a one-minute time limit to keep debates moving.

Nancy Pelosi spoke for eight hours and seven minutes in 2018, and Kevin McCarthy spoke for eight hours and 32 minutes in 2021 - the longest on record.

Image source, US House of Representatives TV

Brandon Drenon
Reporting from Capitol Hill

Image source, BBC News/Brandon Drenon

I've been at the US Capitol every day since Monday, and this is my first time seeing Speaker Mike Johnson, the most powerful Republican in the House, lounged in a chair before a giant table of bagels.

To be fair, the House of Representatives was only called to the scene on Wednesday after the bill cleared the Senate a day earlier. But yesterday Johnson was mostly out of sight, attending one closed-door meeting after the other, racing against the clock to persuade his reluctant few colleagues to support Trump's bill by the president's requested deadline.

Johnson's decision to make himself plainly visible to the press and relaxed demeanour suggests that he's feeling good about his chances to deliver on his prediction earlier a few hours before dawn.

"We will meet our July 4 deadline, which everybody mocked when I said it," Johnson told reporters around 01:30 EST on Thursday.

The tension of the high-stakes moment to deliver on Trump's signature legislation appears to be softening, bagels and cream cheese aside.

American politicians in the House of Representatives are tied up in a debate that began yesterday, carrying on overnight.

The debate is on what Donald Trump calls the "big beautiful bill" - a proposed budget that is close to 1,000 pages long.

It carries all sorts of changes including tax cuts for corporations and changes to healthcare (you can find more details here).

When the debate wraps up, there's a final vote, which Republicans believe will pass the bill.

After that, Trump signs it into law.

The bill contains much of the president's signature policies, and he's keen to sign it.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, EPA

As Jeffries continues to speak, we've heard from House Speaker Mike Johnson, who says the budget bill will be delivered today.

"The time is now! President Trump is waiting with his pen," he says in a post on X.

"Today, we will deliver the One Big Beautiful Bill to the President’s desk - and the American people will FINALLY get the relief they demand and deserve."

Speaking a little earlier to US media, Johnson adds that Republicans are "excited to get this done".

"If Hakeem would stop talking, we’ll get the job done for the American people. It takes a lot longer to build a lie than to tell the truth, so he’s really spinning a long tale in there," Johnson says.

Jeffries has been addressing the House for a little more than six hours.

Brandon Drenon
Reporting from the US Capitol

House Republicans’ sentiment has been shifting since they arrived at the Capitol on Wednesday, called back to Washington from all corners of the country to get Trump’s "big, beautiful" bill over the line.

There has been hope and despair, determination and disappointment, but after clearing a key procedural vote earlier this morning, they think things are beginning "to look good".

"The president wanted to sign the bill on the Fourth of July, and I think that opportunity is going to be available to him," Derek Schmidt, a Republican congressman from Kansas, tells me.

Some of his colleagues had been withholding their support of the bill over concerns of cuts to social programmes like health care and food assistance.

But after a massive pressure campaign that included around-the-clock meetings at the White House yesterday with Trump, most sceptics appear to have been converted.

"I'm feeling optimistic at the moment that folks have come to the conclusion that the country is better off with this change than without it," Schmidt says.

The bill's passage is still not a guarantee. Republicans can only afford to lose three votes, and a few have been non-committal about whether they'd support the bill when it hits the floor.

How much could the US deficit rise?published at 15:20 British Summer Time 3 July

15:20 BST 3 July

By Jake Horton

The White House has said the bill "reduces deficits by over $2 trillion" - but senior Democrats have insisted it would actually add trillions.

BBC Verify has examined various independent studies about the bill's impact and interviewed six tax experts who all agreed that it would increase the national deficit.

The deficit is what happens when the US government spends more than it collects through taxes and other forms of revenue. Larger deficits and a bigger debt can theoretically result in higher interest rates - which can ultimately make things like housing and cars less affordable.

The current version of the bill is estimated to add about $3.3tn (£2.4tn) to the US deficit over the next 10 years, despite an initial economic boost, according to estimates from the Congressional Budget Office, external , external(CBO), external - the government agency which provides independent analysis of spending.

An analysis from the Tax Foundation, external think tank concluded that the bill "would increase economic output but worsen deficits".

• You can read BBC Verify’s full fact-check on claims about the bill here.

Democratic House Leader Hakeem Jeffries has been speaking for more than five hours now, using his "magic minute".

Ordinarily, representatives in the House must adhere to a strict time limit on their speeches, but the "magic minute" is a tool available to party leaders to speak for an unlimited time.

He's repeatedly told his colleagues that he plans to "take my sweet time" on the floor.

The longest ever "magic minute" is 8 hours and 32 minutes, which was by former Speaker Kevin McCarthy back in 2021.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House

We've just heard from President Trump, who has taken to Truth Social to praise the progress made overnight on advancing his "Big, Beautiful" bill and taking it close to a vote.

"What a great night it was," he writes. "One of the most consequential bills ever."

Overnight, some Republican hold-outs who had opposed the bill for a variety of reasons "flipped", allowing the House to pass a key procedural hurdle that has set the stage for the final ballot.

"The USA is the HOTTEST country in the world, by far," Trump adds in his post.

This phrase is used extremely frequently - multiple times a week - by Trump as he touts what his administration sees as success - most frequently with regards to the economy and foreign investment, but also on a wide variety of other policy topics.

Brandon Drenon
Reporting from Washington DC

Image source, Getty Images

As we’ve been reporting, House Representatives have been at the Capitol for over 24 hours, and the early signs of fatigue are beginning to show.

But for the Democrats, whose backs are against the wall as the bill appears more and more likely to become law, giving up is not an option.

I ran into Rep Troy Carter from Louisiana just outside the House floor. He stopped to speak with me, pausing to lean against the railing of a set of stairs nearby.

“We’re not going to quit. We’re not going to roll over,” Carter says in a raspy, worn voice.

“We took a loss today,” he says, referring to the procedural vote that came in the wee hours of the morning and cleared the way for an eventual vote on the actual bill.

“The American people took a loss today, but we will pause for a fraction of a second, and then we’ll continue to battle.”

When asked on the likelihood that enough Republicans side with Democrats and vote against the bill – the only way Democrats could stop this – he seems to suggest not.

“Maybe that was the case before yesterday, when the president literally spent the whole day having one-on-ones, two-on-ones, having brow-beating meetings with members,” he says.

Donald Trump promised repeatedly on the campaign trail that he would scrap taxes on tips.

The sprawling budget bill before the House right now aims to deliver on that promise and others. But how would a no tax on tips work in practice?

The legislation essentially creates a new tax deduction for tipped workers that eliminates what they owe in federal income tax. They will still have to pay state and local income tax, as well as payroll tax.

In the latest version of the bill, which was revised in the Senate, there is a limit of $25,000 (£18,000) on those deductions.

The tax cut is also phased out for those whose income is above $150,000, or couples whose income is above $300,000.

It is also not a permanent change. The tax cut only applies until 2028, meaning it could be restricted or abolished in the future unless Congress votes to extend it.

A report from the White House's Council of Economic Advisors says that the tax cut would increase a tipped worker's average take-home pay by around $1,600 a year.

Over four million Americans work in tipped jobs, according to 2023 numbers. But not all will benefit. A report by the Yale Budget Lab notes that a third of those workers already don't pay federal income tax because their earnings are too low.

Trump's budget bill includes increased spending in two areas central to the president's agenda - border security and defence.

The costs incurred will be offset, to a degree, by cuts to healthcare and food-support programmes, which has been a main point of contention for lawmakers in both parties.

Border security has been one of Trump's central priorities, and his budget includes an estimated $129bn (£94.5bn) worth of funding for his policies over the next 10 years.

Trump has talked tough on immigration since returning to office and his administration has expanded military bases near the US-Mexico border in order to deploy troops to detain migrants.

Last month, the Supreme Court opened the door for the Trump administration to no longer grant automatic citizenship to everyone born on American soil, and to resume deportations of migrants to countries other than their homeland.

Trump's budget also prioritises defence, allocating roughly $150bn over the next decade.

The president has urged Nato members to increase their own defence spending, with the defence bloc's leaders agreeing last month to ramp up spending to 5% of their countries' economic output by 2035.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House

Image source, Bernd Debusmann Jr/BBC News

Things are abnormally quiet at the White House. Many of the reporters who are normally here are on Capitol Hill - which for the moment is very much the centre of gravity in Washington DC.

As we head to a vote on the House floor this morning, we've still not heard from President Trump, on camera or on Truth Social. Behind the scenes, he's likely been following the action and working the phones, which White House officials said ate of much of his day yesterday as well.

At 12:45 local time (16:45 BST), he's scheduled to meet with Edan Alexander, a dual US-Israeli citizen who was held captive in Gaza for 19 months before being released in May in a deal brokered by Trump.

Later on, he's planning on flying to Des Moines for the Iowa State Fair, for a "Salute to America" celebration in the evening.

He's almost certainly going to discuss the bill - particularly if it's been signed by then.

If that happens, it's still unclear when he will sign it.

Tomorrow he'll be attending a picnic for military families and an Independence Day celebration, which, the White House hopes, will also be a celebration of the bill being signed into law by the President's self-imposed deadline.

Michelle Fleury
World News Correspondent

The US added 147,000 jobs in June - a better result than many expected, suggesting the job market is still holding up. The unemployment rate dipped slightly to 4.1%, and figures for April and May were quietly revised upwards by 16,000.

But dig a little deeper, and there are signs of strain. Most of June’s job growth came from just two areas - government and healthcare - raising concerns that the broader private sector is starting to stall.

Large-scale layoffs are still rare, but companies seem to be playing it safe. Some are choosing not to replace staff who leave, while others are putting hiring plans on hold.

The numbers paint a picture of an economy that's resilient - but perhaps losing some steam. And that could give the US Federal Reserve something to think about as it weighs up its next move on interest rates.

Brandon Drenon
Reporting from Capitol Hill

Image source, Getty Images

I've just arrived to the US Capitol for my fourth consecutive day covering the difficult plight of what Trump calls the “big beautiful bill”.

House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries is continuing his “magic minute” speech, which in fact has now well exceeded 180 minutes.

The delay tactic is becoming an increasingly common move for Democrats who, without a majority in the House or Senate, have very few options to resist Trump’s agenda.

Think Al Green standing up and waving his walking stick at Trump in the middle of the president’s joint congressional address, or Corey Booker’s record-breaking 25-hour protest speech on the other side of the Capitol in April.

Jeffries’ speech is Democrats’ final move before the bill likely becomes law.

As he speaks – adding to the 24-plus hours he and his colleagues have been on the Hill – a field of tired eyes sits behind him.

But when he delivers the right line, they rise to their feet.

“We will continue to fight for you,” Jeffries says emphatically, which draws an applause and gets lawmakers to stand.

Let’s see how long they can keep this up.