Press Releases

Congresswoman Suzan DelBene today announced that she signed a discharge petition to re-open the government. This discharge petition allows a majority of members to bypass House leadership and force an up or down vote on a clean continuing resolution, providing funding through November 15 at a compromise level. DelBene today issued the following statement:

“The shutdown has been harmful to our nation’s economy, affecting businesses, working families, seniors, veterans and hundreds of thousands of federal employees.

“It’s frustrating that House leadership has refused to allow an up-or-down vote on a bill to reopen the government immediately. This is despite all indications that this bill would pass with strong bipartisan support. The American people do not want this shutdown to continue, at a cost to taxpayers of up to $300 million a day. Our job as Members of Congress is to put the needs of our country ahead of partisan politics, and we should all be able to agree that reopening the government and ending this unnecessary shutdown is the right thing to do.

“Once we get the government reopened, we then must break the cycle of brinksmanship and manufactured crises and do the responsible thing - work on passing a long-term budget.

“We can no longer allow congressional inaction and dysfunction to hold back our recovery. The House must be allowed a vote to reopen the government.”

H. Res. 372, The “Open the Government” Resolution, would allow an up or down vote on a clean continuing resolution, consistent with the funding levels passed by the Senate, if a majority of House Members sign onto the discharge petition. A discharge petition can be filed after seven legislative days from the introduction of the resolution. If a majority of House members sign the discharge petition, a floor vote on a clean continuing resolution could occur as early as October 14th. 

Copy of the Resolution to Open the Government (pdf)

Detailed FAQs on the Discharge Petition Process (pdf)

Steps to Reopen the Government through the “Open the Government” resolution:

1.“Open the Government” resolution introduced and referred to the House Rules Committee. (October 4).

2. After seven legislative days of inaction, the discharge petition is filed and House members can sign the petition calling for immediate House consideration. (earliest estimated date: October 11)

3. Once a majority of members’ signatures are collected, a motion is made on the House floor to discharge the resolution from the Rules Committee for immediate House consideration. (earliest date: October 14)

4. Once the resolution is adopted, the House would then debate a continuing resolution with the House and Senate agreed-to spending levels as a substitute to H.R. 1164 – a Republican bill introduced more than 30 days ago – and take an up or down vote. After House passage, the Senate would have to approve the bill.

You can see which Members of Congress have signed onto the discharge petition in real time by visiting the House Clerk’s office here: http://clerk.house.gov/113/lrc/pd/petitions/DisPet0005.xml