House Dems Eye Discharge Petition to Advance Aid Bill
By Sandy Fitzgerald | Tuesday, 13 February 2024 02:06 PM EST
Read more at https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/democrats-house-discharge-petition/2024/02/13/id/1153429/
Senior House Democrats are considering the use of a discharge petition to get around Speaker Mike Johnson if he refuses to introduce the $95 billion overseas aid bill approved by a 70-29 vote in the Senate on Tuesday.
Johnson, R-La., has not said if he will bring the bill up for a House vote, but on Monday, he said the legislation, which provides aid for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan, is silent on illegal immigration, “the most pressing issue facing our country,” reported Newsweek.
A discharge petition would require support from 218 House members, including at least four Republicans. If approved, the Senate bill could be voted on like any other legislation, likely not before the end of this month.
The Senate’s bill allows $60 billion of military aid for Ukraine, $14 billion for Israel, $8 billion for Taiwan, and less than $10 billion in wider humanitarian assistance, including in Gaza.
Johnson, in a statement Monday, said that House Republicans were “crystal clear from the very beginning of discussions that any so-called national security supplemental legislation must recognize that national security begins at our own border.”
Without any border policy changes from the Senate, he said, “the House will have to continue to work its own will on these important matters. America deserves better than the Senate’s status quo.”
Rep. Ami Bera, D-Calif., posted on X that if Johnson won’t bring the “critical aid package to the floor, I stand ready to sign a discharge petition to get the job done. The world is watching.”
“We must deliver critical security assistance to our partners and humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza,” he added.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told CNN Monday that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries “said he has not ruled out using a discharge petition, which is a parliamentary maneuver to try and bring a bill to the floor.”
In addition, pro-Ukraine conservatives have also called for a discharge petition, including former Rep. Adam Kinzinger, who on X called Johnson an “idiot” and said it’s “time for a discharge petition, or for three Republicans to vote against every rule until he agrees. You will not win unless you fight fire with fire.”
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