• Two freshman House Republicans suggested Thursday they are opening to end-running their party’s leadership and working with Democrats to fund the government – as their conference is locked in an internal stalemate threatening to shut down the government.
• Reps. Marc Molinaro and Mike Lawler, who both represent New York’s Hudson Valley-area districts that voted for President Joe Biden in 2020, said they’re willing to consider using a “discharge petition” to force votes on a short-term funding bill.
• The rarely used discharge petition allows lawmakers to force a vote on legislation even if the House speaker doesn’t want to bring it up for a vote.
• However, the measure requires signatures from a majority of the chamber and must sit in committee for at least 30 legislative days – which means it cannot prevent a shutdown at the end of September.

Tagged: Capitol Hill