House Democratic leaders are trying to upend the chamber once again.
House Democrats — with the backing of their leadership — are preparing to file a discharge petition on a new stock trading ban. The petition is meant to compete directly with Rep. Anna Paulina Luna’s (R-Fla.), which has been accruing signatures. That petition currently has 74 backers, including 59 Democrats.
Several Democrats told us that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ leadership team has been quietly urging them to back away from Luna’s petition.
Luna’s bill would restrict stock trades by members and senators. But the Democratic proposal, offered by Reps. Seth Magaziner (D-R.I.), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash. ) and Joe Morelle (D-N.Y.) this week, would also target President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance, a dealbreaker for many Republicans. Magaziner said he submitted the bill at the behest of the Democratic leadership.
The Democratic proposal is also amendable, while the Luna measure isn’t. This means Democrats can make a deal if necessary to attract additional GOP support.
This all comes after Jeffries successfully pushed a discharge petition to extend the expiring enhanced Obamacare subsidies. Four Republicans signed on Wednesday to force a vote in January, a huge rebuke to Speaker Mike Johnson.
Strategy shift. Vulnerable and disaffected House Republicans have transformed discharge petitions from long-shot messaging tools into very real vehicles to get bills to the floor.
That’s opened a door like never before for Democrats, completely changing the strategy for House Democratic leadership.
House Democratic leaders now view any discharge petition they file on a bill with a remote shot at Republican buy-in as a live option. That means they’re looking at bills they put up as having a real chance at becoming law — or at least passing the House.
In addition to the Obamacare subsidies, look at the successful effort to release the Jeffrey Epstein files and Rep. Jared Golden’s (D-Maine) discharge petition to restore collective bargaining rights for federal workers. The House passed Golden’s bill last week.
In this new reality, Democratic leaders need to carefully plot their moves on each discharge petition. It also means that if Democrats feel a compromise petition is a bad deal, Democratic leadership needs to fight back or risk watching their members put it over the top.
“I do think you see members very strategically working across party lines to craft a discharge petition that could potentially actually be successful instead of being a messaging bill,” said Rep. Joe Neguse (D-Colo.), a member of leadership.
Jeffries said Democrats will keep seizing on certain discharge petitions.
“Listen, we’re going to continue to use every procedural tool available to make life better for the American people,” Jeffries said.
