- There’s a bipartisan effort on Capitol Hill to let new parents in Congress vote remotely. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is openly opposing it because he believes it’s unconstitutional.
- The bill’s sponsors accused GOP leadership of making threats and playing hardball politics to squash the bill.
- Sponsors have enough signatures on a petition to bring the bill up for a vote despite leadership’s objections.
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Representatives on Capitol Hill are advancing a bipartisan effort to let new parents in Congress vote remotely. Supporters of the bill say there are more young parents than ever in Congress, and if they’re going to grow their families, they have to be able to keep working with an infant.
Reps. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., Sara Jacobs, D-Calif., and Brittany Pettersen, D-Colo., introduced the bill.
Where does the bill stand now?
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said he opposes the bill. Fellow Republicans accused Johnson and his leadership team of making threats and playing hardball politics to prevent it from being approved.
“I’m not going to back down. I’m not going to be bought. I’m not going to change my position. This is bigger than me,” Luna told reporters Thursday. “You are seeing a majority of the conference, Republicans and Democrats supporting this, and to be told that somehow allowing members and family to or allowing new members of Congress to have families, men and women to vote, is somehow going to destroy the democracy.”
Johnson won’t bring the bill up for a vote because he believes it’s unconstitutional. As a result, members started a discharge petition, which allows the rank-and-file to overrule the speaker. The group got 218 signatures from every political leaning, which is more than enough to bring the bill forward.
Republican leadership allegedly making threats, playing hardball
Luna accused the Republican leadership of trying to convince and even threaten members to remove their names from the petition.
“Let me tell you, they are threatening members right now, and that is unacceptable,” Luna said. “I also understand that there were frontline members that wanted to support this and they were also threatened.”
“So you are going to threaten the majority because we are trying to advocate for us to have a voice in Washington? I would call the question, what does that say about your leadership?” Luna continued.
There are also accusations of Republican leadership playing hardball politics. For instance, a member of leadership allegedly told Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., he could get help on another unrelated piece of legislation if he agreed to vote against Luna’s bill.
“I’ve talked to leadership. I can’t get it up,” Burchett said. “Then they throw me, send one of their emissaries over there to tell me that we can get it, I can get the bill on the floor if you’ll help us with this. This is ridiculous.”
What is the history of proxy voting in Congress?
Proxy voting began during COVID. Members were allowed to authorize another member to enter their vote on their behalf. Johnson said that should not happen again.
“The Republican Party is pro-family. We want to make it as easy as possible for young parents to be able to participate in the process. But proxy voting, in my view, is unconstitutional,” Johnson said. “This is a deliberative body. You cannot deliberate with your colleagues if you’re out somewhere else.”
“Here’s the problem, if you create a proxy vote opportunity just for young parents, mothers and the fathers of those situations, then where is the limiting principle?” Johnson continued.
That’s why conservatives who support the legislation said it should not allow anyone else to vote remotely. That includes those who are sick or have another serious issue that stops them from being physically present.
“Childbirth is very different from anything else that somebody’s trying to push for. So if people want to now use childbirth as an excuse to try to expand it, I’m against that,” Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., said.
Because enough members have signed the discharge petition, Luna can bring the bill up for a vote whenever she wants. She wouldn’t say when she plans to bring it forward, but she said next week will have a good news cycle.