Congressional Democrats are using a little-known parliamentary trick to try and force a vote on amnesty for DACA recipients, and it may work thanks to a small number of breakaway Republicans.
So far, 212 House members have signed a discharge petition filed by Democrats, seeking debate and a vote on several immigration bills.
Under House rules, if a majority of the House signs a discharge petition, the Speaker must schedule a debate and a vote on the bill or bills named in the petition.
Twenty-three of those signatures are from Republicans. If just six more members of Congress sign, reaching the required 218, the House will be forced to debate and vote upon immigration bills.
House Republican leaders, hoping to avoid confrontations with both liberal activists and their conservative base, have been trying to prevent that.
The tactic has worked in the past, even when it doesn’t garner majority support. In 2014 House GOP leaders, fearing a repeat of the media attacks during the Clinton impeachment hearings tried to stonewall a bill forming a select committee to investigate the Obama administration’s response to the Sept. 11, 2012 terrorist attacks in Benghazi, Libya.
Frustrated by the lack of an investigation, Rep. Steve Stockman (R-TX) filed a discharge petition to force a debate and a vote on the bill creating the committee. Now worried about a rebellion within Republican ranks, House leaders fast-tracked the bill. The resulting investigation uncovered Hillary Clinton’s use of an unapproved, unsecured email server, leading to her defeat in the 2016 presidential election.
History could repeat itself, as House leaders are now considering cutting a deal in which Democrats will get debate and a series of votes on other immigration measures, in exchange for dropping the discharge petition.
It remains to be seen whether Democrats will accept the offer, or try to garner six more signatures and force a series of more politically-damaging votes.
AAN Staff
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