The Discharge Rule in the House: Recent Use in Historical Context

Publication Date: April 2003

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Government

Type:

Abstract:

The discharge rule of the House of Representatives affords a way for Members to bring to the floor a measure not reported from committee. It may also be used to bring to the floor a special rule for consideration of a measure, either reported or unreported, if the Committee on Rules declines to do so. Before a motion to discharge may be made, 218 Members must sign a petition for that purpose.

Since the present form of discharge rule was adopted in 1931, 563 discharge petitions have been filed, of which 47 obtained the required signatures. The House voted for discharge 26 times, and passed 19 of the measures involved, but only two became law (and two others changed House Rules). Discharge attempts, however, may also lead indirectly to legislative success. The House considered 10 of the measures on which petitions were completed, under other procedures, and eight of these became law. It also took up, under other procedures, 32 measures on which petitions were still pending. Of these, all but three passed the House, and 17 received
final approval. Overall, either the petition was completed, or the measure received floor action by some means, in about 16% of discharge attempts.

During the past 35 years (1967-2002), discharge petitions on 12 measures obtained the required signatures. The House voted for discharge six times, and considered the other six measures under other procedures. Six of the 12 measures were rejected, all of them proposed constitutional amendments, which require a two-thirds majority for passage. The House adopted one amendment to the discharge rule itself, one proposed constitutional amendment (which failed in the Senate), and four measures that became law. During this period, it also used other procedures (such as a special rule reported by the Committee on Rules) to consider 10 additional measures on which discharge was attempted, of which six became law.

Increasingly often in recent years, the Committee on Rules has responded to discharge efforts by reporting its own special rules for considering the measures involved. It often does so even when the petition is not completed, especially for petitions filed on special rules, rather than on the measures themselves. Since 1967, measures on which this form of petition was filed have had over twice as much chance of reaching the floor, especially under alternative procedures, as when the petition was filed on the measure itself. Perhaps as a result, this form of discharge has become more popular, amounting to almost 70% of petitions filed during the past decade (1993-2002).

Only since the 103rd Congress has the number of Members signing each discharge petition been public information. During that period, four petitions were signed by more Members than the number belonging to the minority party. Thirty-six were signed by fewer than this number of Members, but more than 90. Thirteen were signed by 30-60 Members, eight by 7-30, and nine by three or fewer.