Lawmakers can now designate from afar another member who is present in the chamber to vote in their place by sending them an email or text message and informing the House clerk.

Any lawmaker on the House floor can act as a proxy voter for up to 10 other members.

The new rule makes it possible for legislation to be passed with just 22 lawmakers being physically present, each using multiple proxy votes to reach the 218-person majority typically needed to pass most bills.

On partisan measures without minority support, that means the majority, currently controlled by Democrats, can pass bills with fewer than two dozen members of their caucus.

The proxy voting system is intended to be temporary, Democrats said, to respond to the grave health threats caused by the coronavirus, which still lacks a treatment or a vaccine. The end of last week saw more than 80,000 U.S. deaths from COVID-19.

The rules change expires at the end of the year but can be renewed if needed.

The resolution enabling a virtual Congress goes beyond the current pandemic. It paves the way for future remote business by authorizing the House speaker to permit remote voting unilaterally if necessary, using technology as soon as House officials determine the process would be secure.

It also immediately permits virtual committee meetings and virtual votes to advance committee legislation for floor consideration.

“The House must continue legislating,” Rep. Jim McGovern, a Massachusetts Democrat and chief author of the rules change, testified at a hearing last week. “And we have to do so in a way that is safe for all those around us, whether it is fellow travelers, staff, the public, or members of the media. The way we have done things will have to change, at least temporarily.”

Republicans opposed the move, arguing for a plan that would allow the House to return to work in the Capitol in four steps — first with smaller subcommittee meetings that can more easily adhere to social distancing guidelines before eventually gathering all lawmakers as the impact of the pandemic wanes in the coming weeks and months.

Democrats made a compelling case to change the rules.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi recessed the House in mid-March under the threat of the coronavirus. It left lawmakers sidelined without a way to conduct official business.

The California Democrat has summoned lawmakers to return twice for emergency sessions to pass coronavirus aid packages, forcing hundreds of lawmakers to board flights and file into the Capitol against the advice of the Capitol’s attending physician.

Lawmakers returned Friday to pass a fifth spending package, and many were eager to pass the proxy voting and remote business rules change so that they can legislate in the future without having to come back to Washington during the pandemic.

“When I got on a plane today, I was scared to death,” Rep. Norma Torres said in a hearing on the rules change.

Torres, a California Democrat, said she saw crowded conditions and a disregard for social distancing while at the airport and on the flight.

“I am not willing to risk my life for this, and I don’t think we should be asking our staff to risk theirs simply because we are afraid of a new system of working under extreme conditions. This is not normal.”

Many lawmakers face the difficulty of finding a way back to Washington from distant locations. Airlines have cut back on frequency and routes, requiring some members to book multiple flights to get back to Washington.

Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan, who is the nonvoting delegate representing the Northern Mariana Islands, endured a 42-hour commute during his last trip to the Capitol thanks to flight reductions.

Republicans said the House should report to work in person even if it’s risky or difficult. They argued that House leaders for centuries did not change the rules during outbreaks of disease and pandemics, the Civil War, or after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

“Perhaps these prior congresses were made of sterner stuff,” Rep. Bradley Byrne, an Alabama Republican, said. “Or perhaps they had an understanding of their obligation as members that is different from ours.”

“So-called proxy voting cheapens and dilutes the people’s rights to have their voices heard in the nation’s Capitol,” Rep. Dan Bishop, a North Carolina Republican, argued.

The move may raise constitutional questions. The nonpartisan Congressional Research Service found that House-approved virtual voting may meet constitutional requirements. Still, the designation of a virtual quorum could be challenged in court if the judiciary decides to intervene.

“The question of judicial review is an important one,” CRS reported in April, “as the answer could determine whether it is the courts or the individual houses of Congress that are empowered to issue a final and presumably dispositive interpretation of the quorum requirement.”

Rep. Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican, argued that the new rule would allow 5% of the Congress to pass a bill.

Jordan argued that the House could function safely using social distancing guidelines and other precautions such as staggered voting, as they have done sporadically since March.

“Let’s do it the right way, the way we’ve been doing it for 200-plus years, instead of phoning it in and mailing it in,” Jordan said.

Democrats were unmoved.

The coronavirus death toll is approaching 100,000, Democrats said, and health experts are issuing dire warnings about the virus’s possible resurgence during the fall and winter.

“I want to be prepared,” McGovern said. “I want to make sure we function.”