Pelosi: Dems Seeking Discharge Petition to Force a House Vote on the Senate Immigration Bill

by Steve Foley on July 23, 2013

After Speaker of the House, John Boehner, made it perfectly clear that the Senate Immigration Reform Bill as passed would not be brought to a vote Democrats, led by the delusional Nancy Pelosi, are seeking a parliamentary maneuver called a “discharge petition“ in order to force a House vote on the bill.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi told donors at an Organizing for Action event Monday night that Democratic leadership in the House was weighing a discharge petition that would bring the Senate immigration bill directly to the floor for a vote.

Pelosi was asked about the legislative strategy during a dinner with about 70 supporters of the advocacy group, which grew out of the president’s re-election campaign. She said leadership was still deciding to press forward with the legislative maneuver, noting that doing so would take 30 legislative days.

With a discharge petition, Pelosi could force a House vote on the Senate bill by gathering 218 signatures — meaning she’d need just 18 Republicans to sign on. That proposition has many Democrats who see the odds of a comprehensive immigration bill with a pathway to citizenship emerging organically from the House as low.

But the maneuver is seen as a direct rebuke of House leadership, and it would be tough to find that many GOP defectors who both support the bill and would be willing to upset leadership.

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http://www.theminorityreportblog.com...igration-bill/