The House will begin advancing an historic change to the rules that would, for the first time, allow proxy voting on legislation.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi told Democratic lawmakers about the plan during a Monday conference call after announcing the House would return to legislative session on May 4.
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The California Democrat fielded strong criticism from lawmakers on the call about the decision to reconvene next week, including from senior Democrat Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, who called the move “dangerous,” according to a Democratic source who was on the call.
Democrats warned Pelosi there are many lawmakers who can’t remain in Washington, D.C., for weeks at a time, which would likely be required in order to avoid the frequent back-and-forth travel that is not recommended due to the coronavirus threat, particularly for older members who are more vulnerable to the disease.
Lawmakers asked if they would be tested for the virus, and Pelosi said they would not.
The Senate will also reconvene next week. There are no immediate plans to consider remote voting, although a Homeland Security subcommittee will start examining such a change.
Pelosi’s decision to move ahead with remote voting in the House cuts short an effort to work with Republicans on the change. She abandoned a plan to vote on a rules change last week when House Republican leaders said they would not support it and would call on their rank and file to oppose it.
But the speaker is now speeding up the plan to vote on proxy voting as soon as next week because of the opposition and fears among Democratic lawmakers about returning to the Capitol, a Democratic source told the Washington Examiner.
House Rules Committee Chairman Jim McGovern last week drafted a proposal to allow proxy voting. The rules change would permit lawmakers who are not able to come to Washington to provide “a letter to the Clerk authorizing another Member to vote on their behalf and providing exact instruction, which must be followed, on how that Member should vote for each scheduled vote.”
The letter could be submitted electronically, and lawmakers present in the chamber who are authorized to vote on behalf of another member can only do so with specific instruction. McGovern said the proxy votes would count toward achieving a quorum.
Republicans are not in favor of a fast, unilateral move to change the historic rules requiring lawmakers to vote in person. Democratic and GOP leaders met briefly last week for an initial discussion about a rules change, but they did not reach an official accord on a resolution.
