House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) marked the
end of proxy voting
in a Thursday tweet, telling lawmakers they have to “show up to work” under the new Republican House majority.
The House GOP officially ended proxy voting with the
rules package
adopted earlier this month. The pandemic-related measure allowed colleagues to cast votes on behalf of other members if they were unable to be on the floor in person.
HOUSE FREEDOM CAUCUS ISSUES RULE CHANGE DEMANDS TO LEADERSHIP FOR A GOP MAJORITY
“No more proxy voting. Effective immediately, Members of Congress have to show up to work if they want their vote to count,” McCarthy said.
No more proxy voting. Effective immediately, Members of Congress have to show up to work if they want their vote to count.
— Kevin McCarthy (@SpeakerMcCarthy) January 19, 2023
Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) approved and repeatedly extended the measure in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. The purpose was to allow members waylaid from appearing in person due to the virus to vote still and keep congressional business moving forward. As the pandemic wore on, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle abused the
practice
to skip out on votes for other engagements. The rules also allowed for remote committee work, which came with similar problems.
In May 2021, three Democratic representatives voted by proxy while appearing with President Joe Biden at an event in Michigan. Another member took a committee call while on a boat. Proxy voting would increase drastically on “fly out” days at the end of the week, when members are in a rush to get home to their districts.
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Some conservative Republicans held that the practice is unconstitutional. Members were required to sign a letter stating that they were unable to attend votes “due to the ongoing public health emergency,” even when that was not their reason for being absent.
The Senate did not allow proxy voting during the pandemic.
