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Which notable bills became law after being forced out of committee by a discharge petition?
Executive summary
Discharge petitions have rarely produced laws in modern Congresses: scholars count fewer than a dozen successful petitions since 1935 that led to floor action, and some accounts say only a very small number of those ultimately became law — notably the McCain‑Feingold related Shays‑Meehan measure in 2002 and an Export‑Import Bank reauthorization episode in 2015 are often cited as modern examples [1] [2]. Historical examples tied to earlier eras include the Fair Labor Standards Act roots and mid‑20th‑century measures, while famous attempts such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 involved a discharge petition effort that did not itself succeed but pressured committees into action [1] [3].
1. What a discharge petition is and why it’s rare
A discharge petition is a procedural tool that lets a majority of House members (218 of 435) force a bill out of committee and onto the floor without the committee’s or leadership’s consent; it can be filed after a bill has been in committee at least 30 legislative days and signatures are public and revocable until the threshold is reached [4] [5] [2]. Because signatures are public and leaders can apply political pressure, the tactic is unusual and difficult: Sarah Binder’s count and related scholarship show fewer than 4% of petitions since 1935 got 218 signatures and only about 8% of targeted measures were passed by the House, which explains why enacted laws originating from successful discharge petitions are scarce [6].
2. Modern examples often cited as turning into law
Contemporary reporting and policy summaries repeatedly point to two modern episodes as discharge‑petition‑driven successes: the Shays‑Meehan language tied to McCain‑Feingold in 2002 and the 2015 reauthorization related to the Export‑Import Bank, where House floor action followed a discharge step and the policy moved forward in some form [1] [2]. Time and RealClearPolicy note the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act and other earlier-era measures as historically associated with discharge activity, but modern institutional changes (including public signatures after 1993) made the route much harder [1] [7].
3. Famous historical attempts and pressure effects
Some of the most consequential laws associated with discharge petition activity were not enacted because of a discharge motion’s direct success, but because the petition threatened leaders and encouraged committees to act. For example, Judiciary Chairman Emanuel Celler filed a discharge petition around the Civil Rights Act of 1964; his petition failed to gather a majority, but pressure from that effort helped precipitate committee hearings and eventual floor passage of H.R. 7152, which became law [3]. Similarly, scholars trace the origins of major New Deal‑era legislation and the Fair Labor Standards Act to an environment in which discharge petitions were a real force, especially when the signature threshold was lower [8] [1].
4. Why lists of “laws passed by discharge petition” can be inconsistent
Different sources highlight different bills because there are multiple ways a discharge petition can influence outcomes: direct discharge that leads to a House vote; a petition that forces leaders to schedule a bill instead; or language from a discharged measure incorporated into another vehicle that becomes law. Summaries caution that after 1993 signature transparency and procedural limits, only a handful of petitions succeeded in bringing bills to the floor, and still fewer produced laws in the same bill form — which is why Time, the Congressional Research Service, and other analysts emphasize the rarity and nuance [1] [2] [6].
5. Recent developments and notable 21st‑century cases
Accounts from the 2000s and 2010s focus on the 2002 Shays‑Meehan (McCain‑Feingold) episode and the 2015 Export‑Import Bank reauthorization-related discharge action as the clearest modern precedents where discharge activity contributed to enactment or reauthorization outcomes [1] [2]. More recent news items show discharge petitions remain politically consequential as leverage: for example, contemporary 2024 reporting and Wikipedia summaries describe successful petitions that produced House votes on disaster relief tax language and Social Security adjustments in that recent Congress, though readers should note those Wikipedia entries summarize events and should be cross‑checked with primary records [9] [10].
6. What to watch for when someone claims a bill “became law after being forced out of committee”
Ask whether the claim means: (A) the exact bill discharged was passed by the House and signed into law; (B) a discharged bill passed the House and then became law after Senate action; or (C) the discharge petition pressured leaders and the policy was enacted in some other bill. Sources make clear that direct (A) outcomes are rare and that many high‑profile stories are better described as (B) or (C) — nuance often gets lost in summaries [1] [6] [2].
Limitations: available sources do not list a comprehensive, single official roster of every bill that became law after a successful discharge petition; contemporary claims (for example on Wikipedia) should be checked against the Congressional Record, CRS products, or Clerk’s discharge petition listings for primary confirmation [4] [11].