Interest groups have wielded it to circumvent recalcitrant committee chairs, too. In 2002, it got campaign finance reform to the floor of the House, despite Republican Speaker Dennis Hastert’s reluctance.
In 1963, Democrats used it to force that same committee to hold hearings on civil rights (the committee chair caved before 218 signatures were lined up). In 1938, it was used to get the Fair Labor Standards Act past the conservative House Rules Committee. One of those changes to House rules established the discharge petition, though the details of how it works changed in subsequent decades.įrequently threatened and attempted, discharge petitions have rarely succeeded. But eventually enough Progressive Republicans joined with Democrats and revolted, forcing Cannon to make concessions limiting his authority. Should it be the speaker? Should it be key committee chairs? Or should a disparate group of rank-and-file members be able to have a voice?īy 1910, old-guard Republican Speaker Joseph Cannon had centralized power in his hands to an unprecedented degree. Through much of the House’s history, the chamber’s members have battled over who should have control over the chamber’s agenda - what gets brought up for a vote and when. The question is whether Republicans will play ball. But for now, the White House is still hoping for a deal that would avoid that path altogether. If the nation is truly on the brink of disaster, and the House GOP is mired in chaos and infighting, Democrats hope they could find five Republicans to sign their petition. Theoretically, it could be a “clean” debt ceiling increase, or, if there is a Biden-McCarthy deal that the GOP right blocks, the bill could be that deal.Īll we know for sure is that the “ X-date” - the date the “extraordinary measures” the Treasury Department is currently using to keep paying its bills will no longer work - is approaching, and could come as soon as June 1. It isn’t even clear yet what bill Democrats would want to force action on - they’ve used placeholder text that could be changed to their liking later. The few moderate Republicans who’d seem most likely to sign on have all solidly backed McCarthy’s strategy of negotiating with the White House. In this case, it would also undercut his negotiating strategy, since he is purportedly trying to win concessions Republicans want. A discharge petition is a bold challenge to the speaker’s authority, effectively wrenching control of the chamber out of his hands. Three more Democrats haven’t yet signed, but if they do, five Republicans would also be necessary for the petition to succeed.Īt the moment, that seems very unlikely. Democrats announced Wednesday that they’d begin collecting those signatures, and 210 of them have already signed on. So this would go around him.īut like any petition, a discharge petition needs signatures - 218 signatures, which would be a majority of the House. But McCarthy might not allow them to vote on such a bill if it’s strongly opposed from the right, since that would risk his speakership. The theory here is that maybe enough reasonable Democrats and Republicans could join together to pass a debt ceiling increase, if they got to vote on one. So House Democrats have been moving ahead with their long-shot backup plan: a discharge petition.īasically, a discharge petition forces the House to take action on a particular bill - say, a bill increasing the debt limit - even if the speaker or key committees don’t want to act. But if no deal can be reached with the GOP, a disastrous default on the nation’s debt may result. It’s unclear whether this is just a negotiating tactic or a sign of deep problems with reaching a deal. On Friday, Republicans walked away from negotiations between the White House and Speaker Kevin McCarthy on raising the debt ceiling.
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