Discharge petitions, once a rare tool to seize control of the House floor, are increasingly plaguing Republican leaders and giving Democrats outsize sway despite being the minority.
The legislative procedure, used successfully as recently as this past week, bypasses the committee process and forces legislation directly to a floor vote if a simple majority signs on in support. So far this Congress, eight discharge petitions have reached the threshold, with six receiving a full vote and passing the House.
In each case, it took Democrats uniting behind a resolution and then peeling off a handful of rank-and-file Republicans to end-run Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), who ordinarily sets the floor schedule.
The most recent petition, a bill requiring employers to bargain within 10 days of union certification — introduced to prevent union contracts from stalling — prompted GOP leadership to denounce the usage of discharge petitions. Johnson has one of the slimmest majorities in history, making it easier for the minority to circumvent him.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) told the Washington Examiner he does not support the use of discharge petitions because “we have committees, and the committees do hard work.”
“Everybody’s got their own bills that they might want to move, and you know, as the majority leader, when people come to me and they want a bill moved, I tell them — first thing I always tell them is, ‘Go talk to the chairman,’” Scalise said. “Work through the committee process. That is what the regular order is around here, and obviously most people do that. You might not always get the result you want when you go to committee, but that is the legislative process, and that’s what I surely urge we do.”
Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), chairwoman of the powerful House Rules Committee, told the Washington Examiner that discharge petitions are “terrible.”
“Nobody should ever sign a discharge petition if you’re in the majority,” Foxx said. “It is a mistake.”
Some of the most high-profile legislation this Congress has passed to date has been through a discharge petition, including bills to block President Donald Trump‘s effort to end temporary protected status for Haitian migrants, force a release of the Epstein files, extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits, and impose new sanctions on Russia alongside additional aid for Ukraine.
Of the four Republicans who crossed party lines to go against Trump’s wishes and force a vote to release the Epstein files, Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) will be the last one standing after this Congress concludes. Former North Carolina Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene quit earlier this year amid a feud with Trump. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) is leaving the House after a failed gubernatorial bid. And Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) was defeated in his GOP primary by Trump-backed Ed Gallrein.
Another Republican who has backed the discharge petition process is retiring Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE), who signed on to four of the six that have passed.
“The speaker is a friend, I admire him, but if he won’t let legislation come to the floor that the majority supports, this is an avenue,” Bacon told the Washington Examiner.
“I think the Ukraine one was one I felt most strongly about, and he wouldn’t let it come to the floor, and really, you can’t say that you’re a supporter of Ukraine,” the Nebraska Republican continued, if “we don’t let a vote come up for a year and a half.”
Rep. Rob Bresnahan (R-PA), who holds an extremely competitive seat, has signed on to three of the six.
“I look at it as if it’s a good piece of legislation that’s good for my district,” Bresnahan told the Washington Examiner. “I’m going to support it, whether it’s a discharge or not.”
“I think if you look at just how the faster labor contract … you had 28 Republicans that ended up voting for the final package, and there’s been many examples of times where a Democrat-led piece of legislation resulted in a good amount of Republicans that voted for the final passage,” he continued.
Overall, 23 discharge petitions have been introduced this Congress, with only eight reaching the necessary support.
The procedure was created in 1924 to help rank-and-file members get around leadership if they refuse to schedule a vote.
BILL CASSIDY GOES OUT IN STYLE
According to a 2023 blog post on the House website, “less than 4 percent” of petitions have accumulated the 218 signatures usually needed since 1935. Passage of six of the 23 discharge petitions this Congress translates to a 26% success rate.
While these six measures passed the lower chamber, only the Epstein Files Transparency Act has been signed into law. On top of House passage, each must also get through the Senate and either earn Trump’s support or survive a presidential veto. Trump initially opposed the Epstein legislation before changing his stance and endorsing it.
Hailey Bullis contributed to this report.