A freshman congressman was spotted in Washington, D.C., for the first time since January on Tuesday after Congress returned from recess.
Hawaii Rep. Kaiali’i Kahele, a Democrat, has voted in person five times this year and voted by proxy 120 times. Yet Kahele claims he is still doing his job as a member of Congress.
“I haven’t missed a single vote this entire year,” Kahele said. “Not a single one.”
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Kahele wrote a letter in early April stating he would be voting by proxy because of the pandemic. Proxy voting was a rule the House put in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic that allows members to designate another member to vote on their behalf.
As of April 12, Kahele had voted by proxy more than any other House member besides Democratic Reps. Albio Sires of New Jersey, Lucille Roybal-Allard of California, and Al Lawson of Florida, who have also used the new policy, according to the New York Post.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi extended the voting policy to May 14, despite rolling back other pandemic-era rules. It is unclear whether Pelosi will extend the rule again after it expires.
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Kahele has missed several other major events in Washington this year, including President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address and an Armed Forces Committee meeting last week.
Kahele has not issued any statement on running for reelection in November. However, Kahele said he is considering running for governor. If he does run for governor, he faces three additional candidates in the primary, including former Hawaii first lady Vicky Cayetano, former Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell, and Lt. Gov. Josh Green.
The Hawaii primary will be held on Aug. 13.
