Scoop: Mike Johnson wants changes after being outflanked on Epstein files

• After a months-long push for 218 signatures on their discharge petition, Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) saw their Epstein Files Transparency Act pass 427-1 on Tuesday.
• A discharge petition forces a bill onto the floor if it has support from a majority of members. It's long been considered a Hail Mary.

But Johnson told Axios on Wednesday night that discharge petitions have become "too common" and said he would consider changing House rules to make them harder to obtain.

• House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) told Axios on Thursday: "I'd like to see a higher threshold for a lot of these motions. You know, privileged motions, discharge petitions."

Driving the news: Another discharge petition just hit the 218-signature threshold this week, with a vote expected after lawmakers return from Thanksgiving recess.

• The bill, led by Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine), would restore union rights for thousands of federal workers.

The big picture: Only seven discharge petitions have been successfully signed into law since 1935, but three came in just the last two years.

• Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.) successfully forced a vote on his bill to provide tax relief to victims of natural disasters. It became law in December 2024.
• Former Rep. Garret Graves' (R-La.) discharge petition on the Social Security Fairness Act was signed into law in January.

Zoom in: Massie told Axios he's worried the tool may not survive its newfound popularity. He called it a "last vestige of democracy."

• "The Speaker, because he's not giving an outlet for legislative pursuits, the things we got elected to do, he's probably going to see more of these discharge petitions," Massie told Axios.
• Massie said he's "brainstorming" ideas for more discharge petitions with his Democratic colleagues.

Between the lines: House leaders still have ways to blunt the challenge to their power.

• Johnson used procedural tactics to block Rep. Anna Paulina Luna's (R-Fla.) discharge petition last March that would allow proxy voting for new parents in Congress, despite its 218 signatures. The Speaker took a lot of heat at the time for his move.
• "I don't think the votes would exist for that amongst Republicans, which means the votes don't exist for that in terms of Democrats," House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) told Axios about a discharge petition rules change.

The bottom line: Luna told Axios on Wednesday that she'll likely need to use the tool to pass her bill banning members of Congress from trading individual stocks, a controversial issue on the Hill.

• "They're trying to water it down," Luna said of her legislation.
• Luna echoed Massie's warning, telling Axios, "I'm sure [leadership will] try to prevent members from doing it, because it takes power away from them."

Axios' Andrew Solender contributed reporting.

Editor's note: This story has been corrected to remove a reference to rules changes only being possible at the start of a new Congress and to the threshold for a rules change being a two-thirds majority.