Greg Steube has achieved a rare feat: Successfully forcing a bill to the House floor [View all]

[brooklynite]

Source: Politico

Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.) has a rare feat in modern congressional terms: Forcing floor consideration of legislation — on this occasion, a bill he crafted that would provide tax relief for losses due to federally declared disasters.

He invoked a rarely successful procedural tool, the so-called discharge petition, to compel a floor vote on his legislation aimed at helping victims of hurricanes, wildfires and the East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment. The Florida Republican hit 218 signatories — a majority of the House — of supporters on Wednesday, according to the chamber clerk.

Discharge petitions rarely succeed. The last one to hit the necessary number of signatures to force floor consideration concerned the Export-Import Bank, back in 2015. Steube called for the Senate to act swiftly once it passes the House.

Democratic Whip Katherine Clark called on Democrats to sign onto the discharge petition in a meeting Wednesday, a person familiar told POLITICO. More Democrats have signed onto the petition than Republicans.



Read more: https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2024/05/16/congress/a-successful-discharge-petition-00158356