On Friday evening, the House voted on a fundamental change to how the U.S. House of Representatives votes and conducts business. I voted no because it would severely harm the House as an institution, in an affront to what the Founders of our nation intended.

I appreciate that these are unprecedented times, but House Democrats are using the current crisis to undermine our Constitution by letting House members vote by proxy. Several weeks ago, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats were rushing forward with a partisan approach on proxy voting. House Republicans convinced them to establish an ad hoc bipartisan committee to discuss these issues. But then, despite the establishment of this committee, we voted Friday on a change to House rules that has never been seen in our nation’s history. This rule change may have untold consequences for years to come.