House Democrats are likely to consider a permanent extension of “voting by proxy,” a practice that has allowed lawmakers to vote remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I think there will be discussion about, should we be able to vote remotely under circumstances post COVID-19,” Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat, said Tuesday.
The House voted in May 2020 to permit proxy voting and to allow members to attend and vote at hearings and markups remotely.
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Democrats pushed for the changes to avoid having to travel by plane to Washington D.C., and to gather with 435 fellow lawmakers in the House during the pandemic.
Now, they are interested in allowing the practice to continue beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.
Proxy voting allows lawmakers on the House floor to vote for up to 10 other members.
Dozens of lawmakers voting by proxy on any given piece of legislation, and remote hearings are now common.
Republican leaders continue to oppose proxy voting, arguing it dilutes the power of individual lawmakers. However, Republican lawmakers have increasingly joined Democrats and used it themselves, and both parties have voted by proxy for reasons unrelated to the pandemic, even though the allowance is supposed to be limited solely to the coronavirus.
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Hoyer did not pledge Democratic leaders are committed to extending remote and proxy voting but that fellow lawmakers are interested in maintaining the practice if they are unable to attend votes or hearings for health reasons unrelated to the pandemic, such as maternity leave.
“Having said that, I think there is, and the speaker and I both have articulated this great merit and virtue, to being with one another in a room in a committee on the floor, or interfacing, personally, having debate personally,” Hoyer said.
