How a Discharge Petition Works — and Why It Rarely Succeeds

Most bills in the House of Representatives live or die in committee, and the Speaker decides what reaches the floor. A discharge petition is the one tool that lets rank-and-file members go around that control. It is rarely used successfully, but when it works it can change what Congress votes on.

The basic rule

Under House Rule XV, any member can file a petition to “discharge” a bill or resolution from the committee holding it. The petition needs signatures from a majority of the House — 218 members when all 435 seats are filled. A few conditions apply:

• The bill must have sat in committee for at least 30 legislative days (or a special rule for it must have sat in the Rules Committee for at least 7 legislative days).
• Signatures are public. Since 1993 the Clerk has published the names of every member who signs, so signing is an on-the-record act.
• Members can remove their names until the petition reaches 218.

What happens at 218

Once a petition has 218 signatures, it goes onto the Discharge Calendar. After it has sat there for seven legislative days, any member who signed can call it up on a day the House sets aside for discharge motions. If the House then votes to discharge, the measure comes to the floor without the Speaker’s or the committee’s approval.

In practice, leadership often sees the outcome coming and schedules the vote itself rather than lose control of the process.

Why most petitions fail

Hundreds of discharge petitions have been filed over the decades, and only a small fraction reach 218. The reason is political rather than procedural. Members of the majority party almost always need to sign for a petition to succeed, and signing means openly defying their own leadership. That can cost them committee assignments, campaign help and influence on other bills.

Leadership also has counter-moves. The Rules Committee can “turn off” a pending petition by passing a rule that tables it, and leaders can pressure signers to withdraw before the count hits 218.

When it has worked

A handful of successful petitions show when the tool tends to work: a narrow majority, a cause with broad public support, and a small group of majority-party members willing to break ranks.

• Campaign finance reform (2002). A discharge petition forced a House vote on the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, better known as McCain-Feingold, which became law that year.
• Export-Import Bank (2015). Supporters used a discharge petition to revive the bank’s charter after leadership let it lapse.
• The Epstein files (2025). Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) filed a petition to force a vote on releasing Justice Department files related to Jeffrey Epstein. It reached 218 signatures on November 12, 2025, when newly sworn-in Rep. Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.) added the final name. Once passage was certain, House leadership brought the bill up directly. It passed 427–1 on November 18, the Senate approved it by unanimous consent the next day, and President Trump signed the Epstein Files Transparency Act on November 19.

Why it matters now

Discharge petitions become more powerful when the House majority is thin. With only a few seats separating the parties, a handful of majority members joining the minority is enough to reach 218. The size of the next House majority, decided on November 3, will shape how often this tool comes back into play.