A discharge petition lets a majority of the House of Representatives, 218 members, pull a bill out of committee and force a floor vote, even if the Speaker and committee leaders oppose it. It’s one of the few ways rank-and-file members can get around the majority leadership’s control of the House schedule. It’s hard to pull off, but the House’s razor-thin majorities made it unusually common in 2025.
The rule is clause 2 of House Rule XV, and the process has several waiting periods built in.
How does a discharge petition work, step by step? #
1. The bill has to sit in committee first #
A member can only start a petition once a bill has been in committee for at least 30 legislative days without being reported. Often, instead of targeting the bill directly, supporters target a special rule, a resolution setting the terms of floor debate. That petition can be filed once the Rules Committee has held the rule for 7 legislative days, and it lets supporters control how the bill is debated.
2. The petition is filed with the Clerk #
Any member can file. The Clerk keeps the petition and makes it available for signing on the House floor while the House is in session.
3. Members sign until it reaches 218 #
The petition needs 218 signatures, a majority of the full House. The number doesn’t drop when seats are vacant. Signatures have been public since 1993, so voters, interest groups and party leaders can all see who signed. Members can remove their names until the 218th signature, when the petition is frozen.
4. Seven more legislative days #
Once it has 218 signatures, the motion goes on the Discharge Calendar and must sit there for seven legislative days.
5. A signer calls it up, and the Speaker schedules it #
After that, any signer can announce on the floor that they intend to offer the motion. The Speaker must then schedule it within two legislative days. This replaced the old rule, still quoted in many sources, that discharge motions could only be called up on the second and fourth Mondays of the month. The House changed it at the start of 2019. A discharge motion can’t be offered in the last six days of a session.
6. The House votes #
Debate on the motion is limited to 20 minutes. If a majority votes to discharge, the House moves on to consider the bill or rule. The details are in the Congressional Research Service’s report on discharge procedure in the House.
Why are discharge petitions so hard to pass? #
Party discipline #
In the modern House, the minority party can’t reach 218 alone. Some members of the majority have to sign, which means publicly defying their own Speaker. Leaders control committee assignments, campaign help and whether a member’s own bills move, so crossing them has a cost.
Leadership’s counter-moves #
Leaders can head off a petition in several ways. The Rules Committee can bring up its own version of the bill, or a rule that “turns off” the petition. In April 2025, leadership tried to use a procedural rule to kill Rep. Anna Paulina Luna’s petition on proxy voting for new parents. The rule failed on the floor, and leaders negotiated a compromise instead.
The threat is often the point #
A petition sitting at 210 or 215 signatures is a bargaining chip. Rather than lose control of the floor, a Speaker will sometimes bring a modified version of the bill up through regular order in exchange for members withdrawing their names.
Which discharge petitions have succeeded? #
Historically, only a handful have produced laws:
- Fair Labor Standards Act (1938). A petition forced New Deal minimum-wage and child-labor legislation past a hostile Rules Committee.
- Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (2002). Known as McCain-Feingold in the Senate, it reached the floor after enough members of the majority signed.
- Export-Import Bank reauthorization (2015). A coalition forced a vote after the bank’s charter lapsed.
- Social Security Fairness Act (2024). A petition brought the bill to the floor, and it became law in January 2025.
Then 2025 broke the pattern, with three petitions reaching 218 in about five weeks:
| Petition | Reached 218 | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Epstein Files Transparency Act | November 12, 2025 | Passed the House 427-1 and became law |
| Protect America’s Workforce Act, restoring federal employee collective bargaining | November 17, 2025 | Passed the House 231-195 in December 2025 |
| Three-year extension of enhanced ACA premium tax credits | December 17, 2025 | Passed the House 230-196 in January 2026 |
Each succeeded because a few members of the majority joined nearly the whole minority. Speaker Mike Johnson pointed to the size of the majority, saying that with margins this thin, members see every procedure as available. In early September 2026, Rep. Thomas Massie began gathering signatures for a second Epstein-files petition. A House vote isn’t the end of the road, either: a discharged bill still has to pass the Senate, where most legislation needs 60 votes to clear a filibuster. See our explainer on cloture votes.
How does a discharge petition compare with other ways bills reach the floor? #
| Path | Who controls it | What it’s for |
|---|---|---|
| Regular order | Committee chairs and the Speaker | The normal route: committee markup, then scheduled floor time |
| Suspension of the rules | The Speaker | Quick passage of less controversial bills; needs two-thirds, no amendments |
| Special rule | Rules Committee | Sets debate time and which amendments are allowed on major bills |
| Discharge petition | Any 218 members | Forces a vote leadership won’t schedule |
Our step-by-step guide to how a bill becomes a law walks through the regular path and where the Speaker’s scheduling power fits in.
Why does House control in 2026 matter here? #
Discharge petitions succeed most often when the majority is tiny, because only a few defectors are needed. The size of the next House majority is decided on November 3, 2026, and every seat is on the ballot. The best single national measure before then is the generic congressional ballot, which asks voters which party they’d support for Congress. Election Tracker’s House tab shows the generic ballot’s 30-day polling average, with a trend line and every poll listed underneath. Our guides to the generic ballot and tracking House races in 2026 explain how to read it.
Frequently asked questions #
How many signatures does a discharge petition need? #
218, a majority of the full 435-member House. The number stays at 218 even when there are vacancies, which is why a newly sworn-in member can supply the decisive signature, as Rep. Adelita Grijalva did on the Epstein petition in November 2025.
Are discharge petition signatures public? #
Yes. Since 1993 the Clerk has published the names of members who sign, and the list is updated as signatures are added.
Does the Senate have discharge petitions? #
Not in the same form. The Senate can discharge a committee by motion or resolution, and some laws provide special fast-track discharge procedures, but individual senators’ ability to offer amendments and force debate means the Senate relies on other tools.
Can the Speaker block a petition that reaches 218? #
Not directly. Once it has 218 signatures and the waiting period has passed, the Speaker must schedule the motion within two legislative days after a signer gives notice. Leaders can still try to pass a rule that switches the petition off, or negotiate a substitute, but either needs a majority of the House to go along.