Don Wolfensberger at The Hill:
In Congress there are few opportunities to really shine, especially if you are in the minority. That’s why efforts pay off in gathering an impressive cohort of bipartisan co-sponsors on a bill, and then on filing a discharge petition on that bill requiring 218 signatures. That enables you to bring your bill to the floor, often in the face of strong majority leadership opposition.
In the Epstein case most recently, the discharge petition co-sponsored by ideologically opposites — Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) — continues to garner bipartisan signatures. Fearing possible votes on that or other substantive legislation with amendment opportunities, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) sent members home a day early last week for their August break.
Other options for attention grabbing include utilizing the morning hour on Mondays and Tuesdays during which members can speak for up to five minutes on any topic, and end-of-the-day special order period when members can control up to an hour to speak and share their time with like-minded supporters of their particular cause. These free speech periods may only be seen on C-Span, but even the president is a known to be a viewer of that obscure cable network.
But….
The Speaker always has the scheduling prerogatives and Rules Committee to squeeze out minority attempts at power, backed by rules and precedents that have been skewed to favor the partisan majority. But, as the saying goes, a determined majority can always work its will. Small “d” democracy still works if the people retain their interest in and support for those causes.
Once that attention and support fades, though, cause leaders are reduced to being show boaters without a boat or a grand-standers without a stage or audience. That’s when it’s time for Jimmy Durante’s most famous closing line sign-off, “Good night, Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are.”