There’s an old rule in Congress that on any given day, after all the voting is done, members of the U.S. House of Representatives are allowed to give an hourlong speech on the House floor. One Texan, in particular, has taken full advantage of that privilege: Rep. Louie Gohmert, a Republican from Tyler.
Gohmert has been known to talk for hours on things ranging from barbecue to claiming President Barack Obama jumpstarted “a new Ottoman Empire.” But now, under new rules put in place by the Democratic House leadership, representatives will be limited to just one of these after-session speeches per week. Given that Gohmert is often the House leader in terms of time spent giving floor speeches, he’ll now have to make some decisions about his topic of choice.
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Edited by Caroline Covington.
