House Democrats on Wednesday formally introduced a procedural resolution referred to as a “discharge petition” in an effort to try and force a floor vote on a U.S. debt limit increase without needing the approval of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).
The discharge petition was introduced at 10 a.m. as part of a clandestine scheme that had been quietly set in motion since the start of January. The top House Democrat, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), first alerted fellow Democrat colleagues to the plan on May 2.
At the time, he told colleagues that bill titled “Breaking the Gridlock Act” was introduced at the start of the 118th Congress that had multiple items on it, but also later had a clean debt ceiling increase attached to it. The bill, brought by Rep. Mark DeSaulnier (D-Calif.) has remained untouched since March 7, when it was referred to 20 different House committees….