Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) faces a huge conundrum these days: how does he stay relevant as his nemesis Donald Trump dominates the news cycle and his party is eating itself alive by veering ever more into the extremist wasteland? Chuck has to be aware that few if any people are tuning in to find out what he has to say anymore, because socialists like NY Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and wild-eyed Big Apple mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani are now the hot items.
Chuck Schumer, to put it kindly, is not.
But the senator who has been haunting the halls of Congress for 44 years isn’t going to just walk away quietly; no, he’s going to keep droning on about his failed progressive vision and dumping on what has been so-far a highly successful Trump presidency.
In his latest effort at putting roadblocks in front of Trump’s priorities, he is reportedly going to force the Senate clerk to read the entire text of the Big Beautiful Bill and waste an estimated 12-15 hours that can never be recovered:
JUST IN: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) will force the clerk to read the ENTIRE 940 page long One Big Beautiful Bill on the Senate floor which is estimated to take around 12 hours further DELAYING a vote on President Trump’s massive piece of legislation.… pic.twitter.com/eWOahZS5GE
— RedWave Press (@RedWave_Press) June 28, 2025
Although the strategy is not particularly common, it’s been done before, and in all fairness, Republicans have resorted to the tactic in the past, too:
The maneuver, which was described by a person granted anonymity to describe private plans, is meant to slow down Senate passage of the megabill and give Democrats more time to raise awareness of provisions inside of it. The reading of the bill by clerks is provided for under Senate rules but is almost always waived by unanimous consent.
Senate aides estimate reading the 940-page bill could take about 15 hours. When Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) forced the reading of Democrats’ 628-page American Rescue Act in 2021, it took 10 hours and 44 minutes. (Johnson said he bought the clerks a case of wine afterward.)
Related: Trump Warns Congress, Don't Even Think About Doing This Until You Get Big Beautiful Bill to My Desk
It’s Time to Pass the Big Beautiful Bill to Unlock the Golden Era of American Housing
As one of my colleagues pointed out, maybe this guy could help speed things up:
Get ready for a vote-a-rama:
The question is whether Senate GOP leaders will force the clerks to read the bill late into Saturday night and early Sunday morning to complete the time-and energy-consuming task or whether staff will get some time to sleep before the Senate is expected to launch into a multi-hour series of votes known as a vote-a-rama.
Senate Republicans were anticipating that Schumer might force a reading of the bill as an act of protest.
Schumer’s action comes as Senate Republicans are hustling to pass President Trump’s massive tax and spending bill by the president’s assigned July 4 deadline.
Watching sausage-making is not pretty, and the seemingly endless negotiations over this mammoth bill have been long and tortuous. And while the legislation is far from perfect, it enshrines a number of Trump’s priorities into law and would have profound implications on the future of this country.
The voters had their say. Now it’s time to honor them, regardless of what Chuck Schumer thinks about it.
Editor's Note: Donald Trump and his team have been fighting against the left’s extreme agenda.
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