Yo. Epstein discharge petition has the votes

[DoBW]

The Epstein Files Discharge Petition Now Has The 218 Votes Needed To Force A Vote
open.substack.com/pub/politicu...

— Silvija (still) stands with Ukraine (@svecrumba.bsky.social) 2025-09-07T18:47:19.561Z

[BoRaGard]

1. Excellent

[Justice Brandeis]

2. So what is the timetable here?

Would Senate approval be needed? And if so, does that mean we're back to 60 votes required again? Because that seems like a tall order.

Is this like passing a regular bill where Trump would get to veto it?

[Wiz Imp]

11. The Special Election for Virginia's 11th CD is this Tuesday (Gerry Connolly's seat)

The Special Election for Arizona's 7th CD is September 23 (Raul Grijalva's seat)

Both are safely Democratic districts so there is no doubt that the Democrats will win both.

What to expect in Virginia’s special congressional election
https://apnews.com/article/virginia-congressional-special-election-walkinshaw-whitson-connolly-b36cca1180df518e9ff9cba50f78ce16

2025 Arizona's 7th congressional district special election
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_Arizona%27s_7th_congressional_district_special_election

[Justice Brandeis]

13. Ok, so the petition will get the signatures and the measure will pass the House, but then what?

That's what I am asking.

[Wiz Imp]

14. Then that forces Mike Johnson to put the legislation up for a vote on the House floor.

Here's how the process goes:

After the 218th signature is added, a waiting period of seven legislative days is required. A member who signed the petition can announce their intention to offer the motion to discharge. The Speaker of the House is then required to schedule a floor vote on the motion within two legislative days. The motion to discharge is debated for 20 minutes before the House votes on it. If a majority votes to adopt the motion, the legislation is "discharged" from its committee. Once discharged, the legislation itself is brought to the House floor for debate and a vote. If the legislation passes the House, it would then proceed to the Senate. If the Senate also passes the bill, it would go to the President for signature or veto.

Assuming everyone who signed the discharge petition also votes for the legislation, it will pass the House. What would happen in the Senate is hard to predict at this point.

[Justice Brandeis]

15. Ok thank you.

So you hinted at what I think a lot of people are not taking seriously.

The Senate has to pass a bill too and unless there is some exception to the rules, it will take 60 votes.

[paleotn]

19. Not enough to override the inevitable veto. But we don't need to.

A vote that passes in either house or both keeps the story fresh in minds. And makes Donnie look like he's desperately trying to hide something, which he is. He's getting backed tighter and tighter into that corner. Something's going to give. Hopefully its not some "wag the dog" that gets out of control. Then again, the more mistakes and miscues the better. He gets even more stupid and overplays when he's scared and reacting. Collateral damage is the major worry, but to help save you Republic, perhaps it's worth it.

[Wiz Imp]

21. Agreed 100%!

[Chasstev365]

3. I will be happy when it complete and unredacted!

[scipan]

4. By the end of September

Ro Khanna:

We have the 218 votes. Two hundred and sixteen already support it. There are two vacancies that haven't been reported as much, but two Democrats are going to be joining, and they are both committed to signing it. That's going to happen by the end of September.

I wonder why they're waiting?

[littlemissmartypants]

5. They are likely "counting" votes. ...

That is chatting up the various members to determine the numbers. ❤️

[calimary]

17. I don't think they'd stick their necks out like this if they weren't sure.

But then again…

[MLWR]

6. I think the 2 Democrats just won their special elections

and need to get to D.C. and be sworn in.

[karynnj]

9. They might not have been sworn in yet, assuming the election has happened

If it hasn't, this may be in very blue districts, so it may already be clear who will win.

[Wiz Imp]

12. The 2 special elections haven't been held yet

The first is this Tuesday, the second 2 weeks later. See post #11 for more details

[angrychair]

7. Sorry to be the Debbie Downer

But so what? Again, they can just ignore and if they do ignore it there are no repercussions. They can just refuse to do it.

There is no compliance mechanism. Not consequences.
That was the whole point about impeachment. Without the Senate and a conviction, the impeachment in the House was pointless.

Same here. The Israeli government can just ignore their Supreme Court and there isn't any repercussions. Unless you have a compliance mechanism and consequences, it's the equivalent of screaming at the wind.

[wolfie001]

8. The world needs to know we're fighting this fat felonious POS every step of the way! nt

[SCantiGOP]

10. Yes, the Speaker can bury it

But once the House members have it, they can choose to disclose anything they want to while speaking on the House floor.

[InstantGratification]

16. Yes but this is just a discharge petition

If everyone stands firm, the discharge petition forces Speaker Johnson to schedule a vote on the bill. I hope someone can correct me. By my understanding that bill, not the discharge petition, is what forces the files to be provided to Congress. So basically, we are looking at forcing a vote in the House on the bill. If the bill passes the House, then the Senate would have to pass it. I can't imagine that there wouldn't be a filibuster by at least one republican, forcing the 60 vote threshold to break the filibuster. Even if it passes the Senate, it then faces a veto. That veto forces a 2/3 majority to pass each chamber of Congress to over ride it. I hope I'm wrong, but as I read the tea leaves, we have a better chance of seeing those files if someone at the FBI or DoJ leaks them.

[calimary]

18. Even so, EVERY little talking point that's helpful - helps us.

[InstantGratification]

22. Absolutely

Even the fight over the discharge petition is raising some eyebrows among conservative voters. Here in SW Ohio, I'm deep in maga country. Plenty of blind followers around here, many will parrot whatever he is saying without the tiniest awareness of the contradictory excuses he is giving and they are repeating. Even still, I am hearing some cracks in his support, we need for Epstein to be front and center. Make the Rs openly pick a side on each and every Epstein related issue and make them OWN it all at the ballot box.

[NJCher]

23. a video after the women spoke

discusses how they will do this. It is to read the names (Massie and MTG are going to do it) on the floor of the House. This is to protect the women from harrassment. Go to the 3:15 mark and Massie tells how they will do it:

[DownriverDem]

20. Where are the

flight records? That would tell us who was on the plane flights.

[NJCher]

24. the flight records have been published

I saw them and posted them here quite some time ago. Here's a link:

https://www.epsteinarchive.org/docs/flight-logs/