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A group of renegade House Republicans and Democrats The same procedural trick used to force a vote to release the Jeffrey Epstein files To rig a vote on a measure to ban members of Congress from stock trading.
Representative Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) filed her emancipation petition to force a vote on her legislation, a proposal that has been supported by an unlikely group of members, ranging from progressives like liberal darling Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) to hard-liners like Rep. Burchett (R-Tenn.).
“Hell has frozen over,” Burchett said. Independent About the strange alliance.
Under the rules of the House of Representatives, A member can file a discharge petition on legislation to force a vote on his legislation as a way to circumvent House Speaker Mike Johnson and force a vote. Once petitions receive enough signatures, they are closed.
After this, seven legislative days must pass. Johnson must then specify a time and place for the vote.
Ocasio-Cortez expressed hope that it could pass.
“I hope everyone signs it and we can get it done,” AOC said. Independent,
In recent years, stories of members of Congress trading in stocks and potentially using information they are familiar with as lawmakers have increased the level of urgency of the issue.
But Under previous Speaker Nancy PelosiBipartisan legislation from Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) and now Virginia-elect Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger, languished. Many suspected that she opposed the law because of her husband Paul’s own trading interests.
The calls only increased after President Joe Biden called for a ban upon leaving office.
As Johnson continues to work closely with President Donald Trump to run the House, members have begun to use the discharge petition more frequently.
Burchett said he expected Johnson to pursue procedural tactics.
“It’s just a game, just a game,” he said. Independent“But I, you know, I think America wants us to pass it,”
Johnson and Luna have clashed before over the use of discharge petitions. Earlier this year, Luna attempted to use a discharge petition to allow new parents to vote by proxy. But with conservatives arguing that proxy voting was unconstitutional, Johnson effectively killed the measure.
Last month, the same ploy was used by Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) to force a vote on legislation seeking a release filed related to the late convicted sex offender Epstein.
Massey said that more members using the process did not surprise him and compared his leadership to that of previous Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
“We arranged hundreds of things, and that way you, if you were an ordinary member, could at least show through amendments and whatnot what the will of the House was on your particular issue,” Massey said. Independent,
“And under Speaker Johnson, they’ve actually restricted how many votes we have on things and prevented things like the Epstein Transparency Act from coming to the floor,” Massie said. “He should just open up the House more and stop being just a rubber stamp for the president.”
This is a sign of waning confidence in Johnson’s leadership style since Trump returned to the White House. Johnson kept the House out of session throughout October and parts of November during the government shutdown, angering members.
He opposed efforts to hold a vote on Epstein legislation. That frustration played a role in the decision by Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) to resign early from Congress.
But this legislation is not guaranteed to be passed by the Senate. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) Passed a similar bill through committee Hilariously named the Pelosi Act.
This ultimately led to Trump lashing out against Bill and Hawley. Gotta smooth things over with the President,