Avoiding Default: A Timeline

Updated May 15, 2023

Author: Catherine Rowland, Legislative Affairs Director (catherine@progressivecaucuscenter.org).

On May 2, 2023, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries announced that House Democrats would attempt to address the debt ceiling through a “discharge petition.” The Speaker of the House ordinarily schedules House votes. A discharge petition is a parliamentary tool that lets a majority of House members (218) force a vote. Below is a brief timeline of the discharge petition process as it applies in the context of avoiding default. 

For more information about the manufactured crisis surrounding the debt ceiling, please check out the CPC Center’s explainers on this topic:

• Debt Limit Crisis: A Look at the Limit, Save, Grow Act — Published April 27, 2023

• From Debt Ceiling Showdowns to Service Slowdowns: Understanding the Connection — Published April 17, 2023

• Manufactured Crisis: The Debt Limit in 2023 — Published April 11, 2023

• Manufactured Crisis: Understanding the Debt Limit — Published Nov. 29, 2022