WASHINGTON (AP) — There’s no filibuster in the House, but Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries essentially conducted one anyway.

Jeffries held the House floor for more than eight hours Thursday, taking his “sweet time” with a marathon floor speech that delayed passage of Republicans’ massive tax and spending cuts legislation and gave his minority party a lengthy spotlight to excoriate what he called an “immoral” bill.

As Democratic leader, Jeffries can speak for as long as he wants during debate on legislation — hence its nickname on Capitol Hill, the “magic minute,” that lasts as long as leaders are speaking.

He began the speech at 4:53 a.m. EDT and finished at 1:37 p.m. EDT, 8 hours, 44 minutes later, breaking the record set by then-Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California in 2021, when he was the GOP leader. McCarthy spoke for 8 hours, 32 minutes when he angrily criticized Democrats’ “Build Back Better” legislation, breaking a record set by Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., when she spoke about immigration for 8 hours, 7 minutes in 2018.

“I feel an obligation, Mr. Speaker, to stand on this House floor and take my sweet time,” Jeffries said as he opened.

The speech pushed a final vote on Republican President Donald Trump’s tax bill, initially expected in the early morning, into the daylight hours. The New York Democrat used the time to criticize the bill’s health care and food aid cuts, tax breaks for the wealthy and rollbacks to renewable energy programs, among other parts of the bill that Democrats decry.

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He also killed time by riffing on hip-hop, King George III and his own life story, among other diversions. He called out Republicans who have voiced concerns about the bill, read stories from people concerned about their health care from those GOP lawmakers’ districts and praised his own members, some of whom sat behind him and cheered, clapped, laughed and joined hands.

“This reckless Republican budget is an immoral document, and that is why I stand here on the floor of the House of Representatives with my colleagues in the House Democratic caucus to stand up and push back against it with everything we have,” Jeffries said.

He ended the speech like a Sunday sermon, with most of the Democratic caucus in a tight huddle around him and colleagues calling out, “Bring it home, Hakeem!”

“We don’t work for President Donald Trump,” Jeffries said, as a handful of Republicans across the aisle sat silent and occasionally snickered at the leader as he kept talking.

He invoked the late John Lewis, a civil rights activist in the 1960s and longtime Democratic congressman from Georgia. “Get into good trouble, necessary trouble,” Jeffries said.

“We’re going to press on until victory is won,” he said.

Jeffries sneaked small bites of food and drank liquids to boost his energy, but did not leave the chamber or his podium. The speech would be over if he did.

Democrats were powerless to stop the huge bill, which Republicans are passing by using an obscure budget procedure that bypasses the Senate filibuster. So they were using the powers they do have, mostly to delay. In the Senate, Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York forced Senate clerks to read the bill for almost 16 hours over the weekend.

Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., similarly gained attention in April when he spoke for more than 25 hours on the Senate floor and broke the record for the longest continuous Senate floor speech in the chamber’s history. Booker was assisted by fellow Democrats who gave him a break from speaking by asking him questions on the Senate floor, but Jeffries’ “magic minute” did not allow for any interaction with other members.

Republicans who were sitting on the floor when Jeffries started trickled out, leaving half the chamber empty. When the speech was over, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., called it “a bunch of hogwash.”

The speech “will not change the outcome that you will see very shortly,” Smith said.

Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro and Leah Askrinam contributed to this report.

Do you love pizza so much you are willing to hop aboard the next flight and travel across the country for a transformational slice?

Well, hold on a second: Maybe you don’t have to spend those airline points just yet. Some of the most destination-worthy pizza joints might be in your state, according to a recent ranking from Food & Wine.

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New York? Definitely. Chicago? Yes, despite all the deep-dish skeptics out there. But California’s Bay Area and Los Angeles? Local correspondent Becky Duffett argues they’re worthy of celebration in this ‘za Renaissance, asserting “American pizza has never been better.”

Outta Sight in San Francisco gets Duffett’s nod for its long-fermented sourdough and experimental toppings like Peking duck, while Berkeley’s Rose Pizzeria succeeds for its “crunchy, original style that lands somewhere between Naples and NYC with sweet tomato and creamy white sauces.”

Here are the rest of the country’s pizza destinations:

Food & Wine’s 10 must-visit pizzerias in the United States

1 John’s of Bleecker Street (New York City)

2 L’Industrie (Brooklyn)

3 Bungalow by Middle Brow (Chicago)

4 Buddy’s Pizza (Detroit)

5 Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana (New Haven, Connecticut)

6 Razza Pizza Artigianale (Jersey City)

7 Quarter Sheets (Los Angeles)

8 Outta Sight (San Francisco)

9 Rose Pizzeria (Berkeley)

10 Lovely’s Fifty Fifty (Portland, Oregon)

Source: https://www.foodandwine.com/best-pizza-restaurants-11744723

When it comes to untethering the imagination and letting it soar into the unknown, comic books and graphic novels are hard to beat.

The arrangement of square panels on a white page can unlock potent thrills, whether a story concerns an overpowered alien orphan cosplaying as a mild-mannered reporter or a sad, shiny surfer cruising the cosmos on his board. As the Skirball Cultural Center’s fantastic Jack Kirby exhibit shows, anything goes.

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However, works like Art Spiegelman’s “Maus,” Alison Bechdel’s “Fun Home” and the comics journalism of Joe Sacco revealed the format is sturdy enough to handle serious topics and true tales as well – and do it well. This makes sense: There’s an alchemy to combining words and pictures, much like how a great song can blend lyrics and music into something better than its constituent parts.

There are some practical upsides to graphic nonfiction for readers as well.

Serious nonfiction can rack up big page counts – cozying up to Ron Chernow’s 1,200-page Mark Twain biography could feel like entering into a long-term committed relationship with the author.

But graphic nonfiction can reveal a previously unknown chunk of history or a unique life story in a format that allows you to read the whole thing without your legs falling asleep.

And there’s so much excellent work being done in the realm of graphic nonfiction right now – notably in Tessa Hulls’s recent Pulitzer-Prize-winning graphic memoir “Feeding Ghosts,” which tells her story of growing up the child of immigrants in California’s Marin County.

There are more quality examples from recent months (even last year), so if you’re looking for a satisfying nonfiction reading experience, let’s get you started:

“Thomas Piketty’s Capital & Ideology: A Graphic Novel Adaptation” by Claire Alet and Benjamin Adam (Abrams ComicArts)

If you never got around to reading the French economist’s 1,100-page tome about the underpinnings of income inequality, this is the book for you. Alet & Adam create a visually fun work with easy-to-read graphics that explore Piketty’s ideas with humor, clarity and a lightness of touch.

“Muybridge” by Guy Delisle (Drawn & Quarterly)

Those iconic 19th-century photographs that revealed the mystery of how a horse runs – and how motion pictures would one day work? Those were the work of Eadweard Muybridge, and he lived quite a life. After emigrating here from England in 1850 and working as a bookseller, he spent months toting equipment to photograph the landscapes of Yosemite, befriended robber barons and nearly died in a stagecoach crash that turned his hair and beard white. Um, he also shot his wife’s alleged lover to death in California. There’s a lot in this delightful book, and the masterful Delisle tells the story with wit and an engaging comic style and even includes Muybridge’s own images in the book

“Remember Us to Life” by Joanna Rubin Dranger (Ten Speed Graphic)

In the first few pages of this graphic memoir about the author’s family history and the Holocaust, a character gives another a copy of “Maus” and you can feel a deep connection between these books. This is a richly researched memoir about the people –  who she helps us see as individuals with names, lives and loves – who were brutalized, mistreated and murdered by the Third Reich or who faced antisemitic persecution in other countries. Using simple, affecting artwork along with photos and documents, this is a powerful work of personal history that spans generations.

“10,000 Ink Stains: A Memoir” by Jeff Lemire (Dark Horse)

One of comics most interesting and innovative creators, artist and writer Lemire has created a unique body of work, including “Sweet Tooth,” “Black Hammer,” “Essex County” and “Descender,” as well as influential work for DC and Marvel (who’d use Lemire’s run on “Moon Knight” as inspiration for its streaming series). After 25 years in the business, Lemire (who is still in his 40s!) looks back at his work, and this book, which hits stores on July 15, offers a fascinating exploration of a creative life that’s vibrant and ongoing.

“Raised by Ghosts” by Briana Loewinsohn (Fantagraphics)

In this semi-autobiographical graphic memoir, Loewinsohn unearths notes and diary entries from her 1990s youth to tell the story of a teen girl growing up in high school. There’s bonding and breakups with friends, and there’s music and mix tapes to be made. And as befitting a story about a young artist in the making, it’s engaging, affecting and beautifully rendered.

“The Heart That Fed” by Carl Sciacchitano (Gallery 13)

In this moving 2024 memoir, the grown son of a Vietnam War veteran tries to make sense of their tense relationship. The book examines his father’s experiences as a college dropout who impulsively enlisted in the Air Force and gets shipped overseas to Vietnam – and the long years of pain and PTSD that followed.

“This Beautiful, Ridiculous City” by Kay Sohini (Ten Speed Graphic)

In this vibrant, touching and utterly charming memoir, Kay Sohini writes about growing up in India and dreaming of a life in New York City, a place she feels she knows through “Friends” and “When Harry Met Sally” as well as books by Sylvia Plath, Colson Whitehead and Alison Bechdel. When she attempts to leave an abusive relationship, her adopted city takes her in.

“Ginseng Roots” by Chris Thompson (Pantheon)

Two decades after his hugely successful 2003 graphic memoir “Blankets,” Thompson returns with a deeply personal and idiosyncratic work that twines his Wisconsin childhood in the ginseng capital of the U.S. with his later chronic physical (and emotional) pain. The book features Thompson traveling with his brother around their hometown and across the world to learn more about the valuable root and the people who rely on it in this gorgeously illustrated book.

A couple of years ago I bought a fancy cherry pitter at Sur La Table. For decades I’d been using the two I’d inherited from my mother. I loved those one-at-a-time pitters, but they disappeared. Most likely I left them behind at a cooking class. The new pitter works on 6 cherries at a time, pushing out the pits and leaving the cherries in pristine condition.

Now that they are in season, I love to showcase those irresistible pitted orbs in a relish used to spoon over grilled pork tenderloin or chicken breasts. The mix has an appealing sweet-sour flavor profile that gives pizzazz to the grilled meat.

Cherry Relish is shown spooned over grilled pork tenderloins. (Photo by Nick Koon, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Fresh Cherry Relish

Yield: 6 servings

INGREDIENTS

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 medium yellow onion, coarsely chopped

2 teaspoons minced orange zest (colored portion of peel)

2 cups fresh cherries, pitted

1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary leaves

1/2 cup cherry preserves

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Salt to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat vegetable oil in large, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook until softened, 2 to 3 minutes. Add zest, cherries, cayenne pepper, rosemary, preserves, vinegar, and cloves. Boil on medium-high heat until thickened, stirring occasionally, 10 to 12 minutes. Season to taste with salt.

2. Spoon over grilled pork tenderloin or chicken.

Source: “Melissa’s Everyday Cooking with Organic Produce” by Cathy Thomas

Award-winning food writer Cathy Thomas has written three cookbooks, including “50 Best Plants on the Planet.” Follow her at CathyThomasCooks.com.