Mike Johnson bypassed a second time with rare maneuver
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House Speaker Mike Johnson on Capitol Hill on Sept. 18, 2024. Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images.
A group of House members from both parties succeeded Thursday in deploying a rarely executed method to bypass GOP leadership and force a vote on a bill to expand access to Social Security benefits.
Why it matters: It's the second time this year that a bipartisan group of lawmakers has sidestepped House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) with the tool, called a discharge petition.
- In May, a discharge petition led by Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.) attained the necessary 218 signatures to force a House vote on legislation providing tax relief to victims of natural disasters.
- The last time a discharge petition succeeded before this year was in 2015 — nearly a decade ago.
State of play: The discharge petition, led by Reps. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) and Garret Graves (R-La.), would force a vote on the Social Security Fairness Act.
- The relatively non-controversial bill would close loopholes that deny Social Security payments to retirees who receive certain government pensions or other types of retirement benefits.
- It hit 218 signatures Thursday afternoon after Rep. Marc Molinaro (R-N.Y.) signed on.
- In total, 47 Republicans and 171 Democrats backed it.
What they're saying: "It represents in this Congress the fact that, below the surface, there's always been this bipartisan majority ... that will push when things aren't getting done," said Rep. Greg Landsman (D-Ohio).
- Landsman, one of the petition's organizers, added that Republicans should "appreciate the fact that this is one of hundreds of bipartisan bills that would pass immediately" if it made it to the floor via this method.
- Spanberger previously told Axios that she and Graves launched the discharge petition because the bill kept falling through the legislative cracks and being overlooked by leadership.
What's next: After seven legislative days, Graves and Spanberger will be able to request that Johnson schedule a floor vote.
- Johnson may end up simply allowing the vote.
- If he doesn't it will go ahead in another two legislative days— with or without his assent.
- "We will be dogged in making sure the Social Security Fairness Act passes in the U.S. House, passes in the U.S. Senate, and finally gets signed into law. We must get it done," Graves and Spanberger said in a statement.
