A discharge petition is a parliamentary procedure used in the United States House of Representatives to bring a bill out of committee and to the floor for consideration without a report from the committee by "discharging" the committee from further consideration of a bill or resolution. Discharge petitions are used when the chair of a committee refuses to place a bill or resolution on the committees agenda, and the matter will never leave the committee, and the full House will not be able to consider it. A discharge petition may only be brought after a measure has sat in committee for at least 30 legislative days without being reported. Once the requisite number of signatures is reached, the petition is placed on the Discharge Calendar, which is privileged business on the second and fourth Mondays of each month. A successful discharge petition embarrasses the leadership, so members of the majority party are hesitant to support something that would make the Speaker and their own leaders look bad. Discharge petitions are rare, and either the petition was completed or else the measure made it to the floor by other means in 16 percent of cases.

Key points about discharge petitions include:

• A discharge petition is a means of bringing a bill out of committee and to the floor for consideration without a report from the committee by "discharging" the committee from further consideration of a bill or resolution.
• Discharge petitions are most often associated with the U.S. House of Representatives, though many state legislatures in the United States have similar procedures.
• A discharge petition may only be brought after a measure has sat in committee for at least 30 legislative days without being reported.
• Once the requisite number of signatures is reached, the petition is placed on the Discharge Calendar, which is privileged business on the second and fourth Mondays of each month.
• A successful discharge petition embarrasses the leadership, so members of the majority party are hesitant to support something that would make the Speaker and their own leaders look bad.
• Discharge petitions are rare, and either the petition was completed or else the measure made it to the floor by other means in 16 percent of cases.