My Citizen Legislators, May 2, 2023 will live infamy.  House Democrats unveiling a master stroke of utilizing a legislative maneuver – the discharge petition.  Let me set the stage for you, my Citizen Legislators.  On January 30, 2023, Congressman Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA-10) quietly introduced H.R. 626, the Breaking Gridlock Act.  He did not issue a press release or make a floor statement on the introduction of the bill.  H.R. 626 was referred to twenty congressional committees.  The Congressional Research Service bill summary of H.R. 626 is as follows:

This bill addresses a wide variety of issues, ranging from raising grandchildren to earthquake hazards reduction, to underrepresented groups in cancer trials to telehealth, and fighting Boko Haram in Nigeria.

Specifically, the bill establishes a Federal Task Force to Support Grandparents Raising Grandchildren.

With respect to earthquake hazards reduction, the bill

• reauthorizes the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program;
• reduces the frequency of reporting by the Interagency Coordinating Committee on Earthquake Hazards Reduction;
• modifies the responsibilities of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the U.S. Geological Survey, and the National Science Foundation; and
• directs the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to review federal earthquake hazard risk reduction efforts.

The bill also (1) reauthorizes the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, and (2) restores certain amounts withheld for tax purposes from severance payments to veterans with combat-related injuries.

The GAO must review actions federal agencies have taken to address barriers to participation in federally funded cancer clinical trials by populations that have been traditionally underrepresented in such trials.

The Department of State and the Department of Defense must jointly develop and submit to Congress a five-year strategy to help enable the government of Nigeria, members of the Multinational Joint Task Force to Combat Boko Haram authorized by the African Union, and relevant partners to counter the regional threat of Boko Haram.

The bill makes supplemental appropriations for the Telehealth Resource Center of the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy of the Office for the Advancement of Telehealth.

Now you’re asking yourselves, what the hell does this have to do with the debt ceiling.  Well, in the House of Representatives, under Rule XV, any member may file a discharge petition with the Clerk of the House once the committee has had a measure for more than thirty days (remember H.R. 626 was introduced on January 30, 2023). 

According to Congressional Procedure, A Practical Guide to the Legislative Process in the U.S. Congress by Richard A. Arenber, a discharge petition must reference only one measure, not multiple pieces of legislation. While discharge petitions are sometimes threatened by the minority, success requires the petition to be signed by a majority of the House (normally 218 members) and therefore is exceedingly rare.  Once the necessary signatures appear on a discharge petition, a motion to discharge is placed on the House’s Discharge Calendar.  Any member who signed the petition is eligible under the rules to offer the motion on the floor, although such motions are restricted to a “discharge day,” which occurs only on the second and fourth Monday of each month. If a majority votes for the motion when it is brought up on discharge day, the measure is brought to the floor.  Since the House is a majoritarian body, a successful discharge petition is considered a rebuke to the Speaker, the majority leadership, and the powerful Rules Committee.  Members of the majority are expected to follow the leadership on procedural votes.

A successful use of a discharge petition in the House is very rare. The last discharge motion...