Though aides say no decision has been made, House Democratic leaders are strategizing on when to deploy what’s known as a discharge petition, which would have to garner a majority of lawmakers’ signatures to force immigration legislation onto the House floor for a vote.
Advocates of the gambit are aiming to increase the pressure on Republicans who have so far resisted moving on reform this year. But the pro-reform coalition is split over the timing of the discharge effort — with some urging lawmakers to take it up immediately and others advising them to hold off.
One thing is certain, however: House Democrats won’t try to advance the Senate’s comprehensive immigration overhaul. Their version essentially mirrors the Senate bill with a pathway to citizenship for the nation’s undocumented immigrants, but the House Democratic bid scales back the Senate’s border-security provisions.
“I think it’s likely to happen,” a Democratic leadership aide said of the discharge petition effort. “I think people just want to make sure the groups are in the right place.”
Even if they do forge ahead, there is no illusion among Democrats that such an effort would succeed.
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