A bipartisan bill to codify proxy voting for new parents in the House rules is shaping up to be an ugly fight between rank-and-file Republicans and GOP leaders, and Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) is warning leadership that she isn’t afraid to play “hardball.”
Voting by proxy, or allowing another person to cast a vote for a lawmaker, was controversial as a pandemic-era measure allowed in the House in 2021 and 2022. Republicans have long been against the policy, but the new parent proxy voting movement has evolved into one of the few areas drawing significant bipartisan support.
The fight is ultimately between Luna and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), setting the conference up for a tough battle as Luna continues to accuse leadership of being hypocritical and behind the times as younger members begin their families.
Johnson is vocally opposed to putting voting by proxy in the House rules, arguing it is unconstitutional.
“I believe it violates more than two centuries of tradition in the institution,” Johnson said during a Tuesday press conference. “And I think that it opens a Pandora’s box where, ultimately, maybe no one is here and we’re all voting remotely by AI or something. I don’t know. I don’t think that’s what Congress is supposed to be.”
On the other side, Luna says it’s time for Republicans to prove they are as pro-family as they say.
“I look forward to changing the institution. It needs to happen, and this silos it,” Luna told reporters. “Vote by proxy. The dam has been broken on that already.”
Proxy voting bill is ready for the floor — but not if leadership and Freedom Caucus can help it
After proxy voting failed to make it into the 119th Congress House rules package, Luna started a discharge petition to force a vote on the bill on the floor.
Under the bill, members would be able to designate another member as a proxy beginning on the date of the birth and terminating 12 weeks after. If a member is told by a healthcare provider that there is a danger of complications or inability to travel safely, that member can vote by proxy for 12 weeks after the initial designation.
Luna, who was a new mother at the beginning of the 118th Congress, experienced several complications after giving birth to her son, who is frequently seen with his mother throughout the House hallways. Because of her health, the congresswoman was unable to attend sessions and vote, critical during a period of spending fights and just after the historic ousting of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
In January, Rep. Brittany Pettersen (D-CO) became just the 14th House member to give birth while serving in Congress when she gave birth to her son, Sam. During the budget resolution fight, Pettersen came back to the House in the middle of her maternity leave with her 4-week-old son to vote against the measure — a win for the proxy voting movement, exposing that with razor-thin margins, attendance does matter.
A discharge petition must reach 218 signatures for it to force the speaker to call a vote on it. After the petition reaches that threshold, the member can call a vote after seven legislative days. Luna and Pettersen’s bill reached the required number of signatures on March 11, making the lawmakers eligible to bring it up as early as next Monday due to last week’s recess.
But Freedom Caucus members and leadership appear intent on killing the legislation.
Members of the hard-line Freedom Caucus, of which Luna is a member, engaged in a “spirited conversation” with Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) and Deputy Whip Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA) over the proxy voting bill on the House floor on Tuesday, holding open a procedural rule vote on unrelated legislation.
Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN), who co-sponsored the bill and signed the petition, confirmed the conversation but was vague on the details. Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), who is vocally opposed to proxy voting, said they were discussing “how things get to the floor, what gets to the floor, and when it gets there.”
“The house is a majoritarian body, that’s what it is,” Roy told reporters after the rule vote eventually passed later Tuesday afternoon. “That’s fine, but we’re also a body that has parties, and you have to be able to manage and control the floor.”
“We’re also supposed to be guardians of the Constitution,” the Texas conservative added. “And the Constitution does not remotely contemplate remote voting and not being present. You’re supposed to be present in the chamber.”
In line with Roy’s comments, House GOP leadership is now discussing a significant change to the discharge petition rules by raising the threshold to two-thirds, the Washington Examiner confirmed. This would force Luna to gather another 72 signatures to bring her bill to the floor.
But Luna is confident that she has the support.
“In fact, we had to cut off the discharge petition at 218 because there [were] too many signatures. More people were trying to sign on,” Luna said, noting that she also thought any motion to table the bill would fail.
Several lawmakers confirmed to the Washington Examiner that Johnson advocated against new parent proxy voting during the GOP’s closed-door conference meeting. Johnson argued that the bill is a “tool of the minority” to force votes on bills opposed by the GOP, warning against the practice of using discharge petitions, the sources said.
“I’m not angry at anybody for doing this,” Johnson said later at the press conference. “I understand the motives are pure … but I just can’t — as the leader of this institution and the one who’s supposed to protect it, I don’t feel like I would get on board with that.”
Luna scoffed at that reasoning.
“We negotiated. Dems are good with it, Republicans are good with it,” the Florida congresswoman said. “I’m not going to just simply fall in line because they say this is a tool of the minority — which is stupid, because if it’s a tool of the minority, why is it not in our handbook that most Congress members don’t actually read, so they don’t actually know that it’s a tool that you can use?”
The Florida congresswoman said if leadership plays games with her petition, “good luck passing anything” else.
“And so if they want to play hardball, let’s play f***ing hardball,” she told reporters.
Republican supporters wary of final ‘yes’ vote as Luna assures ‘I’m right’
Sixteen Republicans signed the discharge petition. Seven of the 16 GOP signatories were not original co-sponsors of the bill: Reps. Michael Rulli (R-OH), Byron Donalds (R-FL), Andy Ogles (R-TN), Dan Meuser (R-PA), Wesley Hunt (R-TX), Rich McCormick (R-GA), and Dave Joyce (R-OH).
And now some of those lawmakers are not convinced they will vote for it on the floor.
“I was talking to the speaker about it, and the whip about it, and it sounds like it’s something that we don’t want to go down that road constitutionally,” Rep. Rich McCormick (R-GA) told the Washington Examiner, referring to a conversation he had with leaders after he signed the petition. “It would be a gross change in the way we do habits in Congress and probably outside what we want to do.”
Luna told reporters that the last conversation she had with Johnson was on Monday night and that it was “cordial.”
“I think he’s wrong. He thinks I’m wrong,” Luna said. “I’m right. He’s wrong.”
Some members who did not sign the petition but co-sponsored the bill are up in the air on if they will support the legislation if a vote is called.
“There are a lot of questions about even the future of it that I still need to consider,” Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ) told the Washington Examiner. He said leadership has not called him on the issue.
Other signatories have decided to stand with Luna. Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) signed the petition and told the Washington Examiner he would vote for the bill if given the opportunity.
“When you have a female — we have younger and younger members coming to the Hill all the time — and somebody’s giving birth, just give them that opportunity and we’ll move on,” Donalds said.
BIPARTISAN GROUP OF HOUSE LAWMAKERS RENEW PUSHES FOR NEW PARENT PROXY VOTING
Rep. Michael Rulli (R-OH) echoed Ciscomani, noting that leadership has “been pretty much leaving us alone about it.”
“We’re gonna see how that goes. … Anna’s a pretty good friend of mine and sounds like a pretty good thing, so we’re gonna see how that works out,” Rulli told the Washington Examiner.