House members in both parties are embracing the discharge petition like never before to sidestep House Speaker Mike Johnson.

🛟 Why it matters: Discharge petitions are meant to be a last resort to stop party leaders from blocking popular legislation.

• For 90 years, Congress averaged fewer than one successful discharge petition per Congress, with 37 reaching the critical threshold for signatures.
• But that's changed: 10 discharge petitions reached 218 signatures over the past two years alone.

👎 Zoom in: Republican leaders have long discouraged their members from signing onto Democratic-led petitions, but those pleas are increasingly falling on deaf ears.

• Johnson briefly floated changes to House rules last year to make it harder for discharge petitions to succeed.
• He said the tactic was "too common," with Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) saying he would "like to see a higher threshold for a lot of these motions."

⚡️ Driving the news: A discharge petition introduced by Rep. Donald Norcross (D-N.J.) hit 218 signatures on Wednesday. It will force a vote on legislation aimed at speeding up unionization negotiations.

• The petition was signed by 211 Democrats and seven Republicans, with Reps. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), Riley Moore (R-W.Va.) and Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.) providing the final signatures.
• The turnaround was lightning-fast: Norcross introduced the petition on April 20, and the trio of Republicans signed it exactly a month later.

✍️ By the numbers: This is the eighth time in the 119th Congress that a discharge petition has reached the necessary 218 signatures to force a House vote.

• Two other petitions secured 218 signatures in 2024.
• Those 10 represent more than 20% of the successful discharge petitions since 1935, according to data compiled by Axios' Kate Santaliz.
• The 119th Congress has seen the most discharge petitions hit the necessary signature threshold of any congressional session since the tool was created in its modern form, according to Good Authority.

The bottom line: The petitions have had a mixed record so far.

• Just one of the eight discharge petitions over the past year — the Epstein Files Transparency Act — has become law, with several others passing the House but languishing in the Senate.

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— Andrew Solender

The DCCC is going up on the air with ads attacking Democratic congressional candidate Maureen Galindo ahead of Tuesday's runoff in Texas, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: Galindo has been widely disavowed by Democrats over antisemitic remarks. She most recently said she wants to convert an ICE facility in her district into a "prison for American Zionists."

Galindo finished first in the Democratic primary in Texas' 35th House District in March.

• She is now in a runoff with Johnny Garcia, a local sheriff's deputy backed by the DCCC.

Driving the news: The DCCC is launching a $35,000 ad buy against Galindo ahead of the Tuesday runoff, a spokesperson told Axios.

• The ad takes aim at Galindo's "conspiracies" and "hateful words," honing in on alleged GOP spending to support her and labeling her "MAGA Maureen."
• Garcia "will fight Trump, not help him," the ad says.
• Galindo did not immediately respond to a request for comment on this story.

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— Andrew Solender

A pro-AI super PAC, fresh off a string of GOP primary victories this week, plans to keep spending in Kentucky's Senate race as the AI industry tries to focus the public's attention on AI's possibilities, not its potential pitfalls.

Why it matters: Leading the Future and its affiliated nonprofit, Build American AI, are looking for allies in the next Congress to pass a national AI framework, while selling voters today on AI's economic upside.

• The groups plan to spend $140 million during the 2026 midterms as part of a broader effort to establish a national framework for AI regulation and push back against a state-by-state approach to governing the technology.

Zoom in: Leading the Future, which has close ties with OpenAI and Andreessen Horowitz, has had more success in GOP primaries than Democratic ones.

• In the Georgia primary, the PAC spent $1.1 million helping two GOP House candidates — Houston Gaines in the 10th District and Jim Kingston in the 1st District — win in what will be safely Republican seats.
• In Kentucky's Senate race, the group has announced a $750,000 investment supporting Rep. Andy Barr that began during the Republican primary and will continue through the general election.
• In March, the group went 3-for-3 backing GOP candidates in Texas and North Carolina. But it went 1-for-2 backing Democrats in Illinois.

The big picture: The group believes broader AI adoption — from daily use to app downloads — helps counter the "AI-doomer" sentiment reflected in many public surveys.

• New polling from the group found that 52% of Americans believe AI will have a positive impact, compared to 36% who say it will have a negative effect.
• Optimism was especially high among Republican voters, with 60% expressing positive views of AI, according to a survey conducted this month.

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— Hans Nichols