Mike Johnson gets bypassed more than any past speaker
Summary
House members from both parties are increasingly using discharge petitions to bypass Speaker Mike Johnson and bring bills directly to a vote when he refuses to put them on the floor. This tactic is being used more than ever in recent history, with several petitions in the current Congress reaching the required number of signatures to force votes.Key Facts
- A discharge petition is a way for House members to force a vote on a bill when the Speaker does not schedule it.
- Republicans have traditionally discouraged members from signing Democratic-led petitions, but this is changing.
- Speaker Mike Johnson suggested making it harder to succeed with discharge petitions, calling them "too common."
- A recent petition by Rep. Donald Norcross reached 218 signatures, enough to force a vote, in just one month.
- The 119th Congress has the highest number of successful discharge petitions since the tool’s modern form began.
- Two discharge petitions in 2024 have become law: expanding Social Security benefits and providing disaster tax breaks.
- Only one out of eight discharge petitions this year, the Epstein Files Transparency Act, has become law so far.
- Speaker Johnson blocked another petition aimed at allowing proxy voting for House members with newborns.
Read the Full Article
This is a fact-based summary from The Actual News. Click below to read the complete story directly from the original source.