House Republicans warned against a developing plan by Democrats that would allow lawmakers to vote remotely.
“Speaker Pelosi is once again attempting to consolidate power in the House of Representatives while rewarding members of her party for their compliance,” Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, said in a joint statement with Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma and Rodney Davis of Illinois.
Democrats announced this week that “operable and secure technology exists to conduct remote voting in the House of Representatives.”
The letter from House Administration Committee Chairwoman Zoe Lofgren to Speaker Nancy Pelosi opens the door to electronic voting from afar, which is prohibited.
Democrats voted in May to permit voting by proxy, ending a rule dating back to the beginning of Congress that lawmakers must vote in person.
Proxy voting requires a lawmaker on the House floor to cast a vote for an absent member who designates the lawmaker to act on his or her behalf.
Remote voting would go much further in making it possible for lawmakers to remain away from the Capitol by allowing them to vote for themselves from afar, using phones and computers.
Pelosi, of California, asked Democrats to look into the security of remote voting in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Lawmakers began demanding the ability to vote remotely in March when the House shuttered due to the pandemic.
Lawmakers have been allowed to vote remotely in committee since May.
House Republicans oppose both proxy and remote voting. They are challenging the proxy voting rule in court, arguing it diminishes the power of individual members and reduces bipartisanship by eliminating in-person communication in the Capitol.
“Chairperson Lofgren’s letter would pave the way for an expansion of the current proxy voting scheme into a fully-remote ‘vote by text’ operation that is unproven, unsecure, and unconstitutional,” the Republicans’ joint statement continued.
McCarthy said the Democrats are “reportedly considering additional rules” that would eliminate the GOP’s one chance to amend a bill at the end of debate.
Democrats have not made any announcements about potential rules changes.
The House votes on a rules package on the first day of the 117th Congress in January.
McCarthy said Pelosi is considering the move because of election results that shrunk her majority and expanded GOP votes.
Democrats were poised to flip up to 15 GOP seats, but instead, the reverse happened, with Republicans winning back nine seats so far, with other races outstanding.
“Anyone that has served in or covered Congress understands the simplest way to extinguish party tensions is to keep members home and away from Washington,” McCarthy wrote. “Facing a humbling defeat at the ballot box, Speaker Pelosi is now desperate to do no further harm to her political power.”
The Senate, which is currently controlled by Republicans, does not allow remote or proxy voting on floor legislation and has largely remained in session during the pandemic.
