House Democrats Weigh Discharge Petition Rule Ahead of Midterms
Democrats are considering whether to keep the discharge petition rule if they regain the House majority in November. Republicans have discussed making the procedure harder to use.
SemaforHouse Democrats are considering whether to retain the discharge petition rule if they gain the majority after the November midterms, Semafor reported. Any 218 House members can force a bill to the floor via discharge petition under current House rules. The current Congress has set a modern record for discharge petition usage.
A discharge petition resulted in passage of a Ukraine aid bill during June 2026. Retiring Rep.
Rep. ) cast the final signature needed on the Ukraine aid discharge petition. Republicans are openly considering changing House rules to make discharge petitions harder. Democrats have not indicated similar plans.
Rep. Joe Morelle stated he has not heard any discussion among Democrats about changing the discharge petition rule. Current House rules allow any one lawmaker to force a vote on disciplining a colleague.
Republicans attempted to formally reprimand Rep. ) last fall over her involvement in a scuffle at an immigration detention center. Democrats attempted to censure Rep. ) for alleged ethical transgressions in response to the McIver effort.
Rep. ) has introduced bipartisan legislation to raise the censure threshold to 60% of the House. Rep. Don Beyer plans to press for the censure threshold change at the beginning of the new Congress as part of the House rules package.
Rep. Don Beyer stated he thought the censure rule change was close under the previous speaker but not with Mike Johnson. Hakeem Jeffries would become the first Black Speaker of the House if Democrats win the majority.
Rep. Kevin Kiley filed a discharge petition on a bill banning midcycle gerrymandering after his seat was targeted for remapping by California Democrats.
