Democrats leading the charge on an effort to allow new parents in Congress to vote by proxy rejected a deal between House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) that would have watered down the proposal.
A resolution introduced by Rep. Brittany Petterson (D-Colo.) would give new parents of both sexes 12 weeks to remain home with their newborn and vote by proxy.
Amid steep opposition from Johnson and Republican leadership, Luna led a charge to force a vote on the bill through a discharge petition, receiving enough signatures to bring it to the floor—against Johnson’s wishes.
Petterson said she was “so grateful” to Luna for championing the measure but said the compromise arrangement “does not address the barriers we’ve fought so hard to overcome.”
Jacobs said, “From the very beginning, our shared goal has been to support new parents so they can do their jobs and vote on behalf of their constituents while also taking care of themselves and their families.
“Unfortunately, this ‘deal’ falls short of that goal—silencing new parents and perpetuating the status quo and the notion that Congress is ineffective and obsolete.”
Petterson criticized Johnson for going to “historic lengths” to prevent a vote on the discharge petition, despite its supporters following the proper procedure.
Last week, the issue led to a divided Republican conference and an early adjournment to that week’s session.
On April 1, Johnson and House Republican leadership sought to head off the vote required by Luna’s petition through a parliamentary move that would have tabled the petition through a vote on an unrelated rule related to an election integrity bill.
Following that vote, Johnson told reporters he was “very disappointed” by the outcome. Lawmakers were sent home with the rest of the week’s session cancelled.
Luna in a post on X accused the leadership of “playing political games” with Trump’s agenda.
The issue also led Luna to leave the House Freedom Caucus—the powerful conservative flank of the House GOP.
Even the compromise deal largely resulted from President Donald Trump’s expression of support for Luna’s proposal.
“I like the idea,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on April 4. “If you’re having a baby, I think you should be able to call in and vote.”
Leaders said that the original measure was unconstitutional under Article 1, Section 5 of the Constitution, which could be interpreted as requiring in-person voting.
In a long statement posted to X on April 2, Johnson affirmed his support of families, citing his own large family, and said that allowing proxy voting for new parents would be a slippery slope.
“To allow proxy voting for one category of Members would open the door for many others, and ultimately result in remote voting that would harm the operation of our deliberative body and diminish the critical role of the legislative branch,” Johnson wrote.
The controversy has drawn frequent comparisons to the proxy voting rules permitted under former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) from the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic until Republicans regained the majority in 2023.
At the time, Republicans were insistent that the Constitution required in person voting, and many felt that to change that stance on this issue would be hypocritical.
