House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is being increasingly undermined by his own party as more lawmakers use a unique tool to circumvent him, according to the New York Times.
The Times' Michael Gold reported Thursday that both Democrats and Republicans are resorting to discharge petitions as a means of passing legislation that Johnson wouldn't normally even consider bringing up for a vote. In one recent example, 20 Republicans joined all 211 Democrats in passing a discharge petition that would overturn one of President Donald Trump's executive orders stripping federal workers of collective bargaining rights.
Gold wrote that the legislation's "success in the House was the latest indication that Mr. Johnson’s hold on his razor-thin majority has become increasingly slippery, as rank-and-file Republicans flout his wishes."
"[Republicans] are doing so not just by refusing to vote for the party position on important bills, but also, increasingly, by using a once-rare parliamentary maneuver to steer around the speaker and commandeer the House floor to bring up legislation that he does not want considered at all," Gold continued. "The tactic has undercut Mr. Johnson’s leadership and diminished his power over the chamber’s agenda at a time when some rank-and-file Republicans are questioning his approach and complaining that he is disregarding the will of his members."
Lawmakers may have been emboldened by the Epstein Files Transparency Act — a bipartisan discharge petition launched by Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) that ultimately passed the House by a near-unanimous margin despite only a handful of Republicans initially supporting it. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) is now circulating a discharge petition that would prevent members of Congress from trading stocks while in office. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) is one of 14 Republicans who have signed on (along with 44 Democrats).
"At this time, I am considering signing every discharge petition - whether I support the bill or not," Greene wrote on X. "As a duly elected Member of Congress, I believe my colleagues should have the ability to bring legislation to the floor for a vote. Every Member deserves the right to represent their district and receive a recorded vote on their bills. This is a result of House leadership blocking Members from governing."
Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) is also aiming to get enough support for a discharge petition that would force a vote on extending Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits expiring at the end of 2025. The Pennsylvania Republican said he felt compelled to take the discharge petition route due to Johnson's refusal to consider traditional legislation.
“You try to do things through the normal course, you try to do things through normal order, you know,” Fitzpatrick told the Times. “When all of those remedies are exhausted, then you’ve got to go this route, unfortunately.”
Click here to read the Times' full report.
