Twenty-three House Republicans and four constituents filed a lawsuit on Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-NY) to block her proxy voting efforts. This came after the House voted 217-189 mostly along party lines to change the House rules allowing members to choose another member to vote for them.
The rules now state that proxy voting can occur within a 45-day period on Coronavirus-related legislation. To vote by proxy, a member would have to write to the House Clerk and describe who will vote for them as well as how they wish to vote on the piece of legislation. One member is allowed to represent up to ten votes meaning less than 30 members are needed to pass legislation. This is extremely dangerous on the basis that a representative who wishes to vote by proxy is now placing the voices of their district into the hands of a member who may not represent their views. Additionally, another political layer is added when a member will have to bargain with their proxy instead of listening to their constituency.
The lawsuit filed with the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. cites the original intent of the Constitution. Words such as “meeting”, “assemble”, or “present” can be used ambiguously, but the document references definitions from dictionaries at the time of the framing of the Constitution to show that those words meant in-person and face-to-face encounters.
In a press conference on Wednesday detailing the lawsuit, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy pointed out that 71 Democrats had notified the House Clerk that they would be voting by proxy. One member is currently responsible for the votes of Congressmen in five different states. More than half of the Democrat delegation in California are voting by proxy which means 19 million Californians are no longer represented by the member they elected.
Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) stated to the Daily Caller, “Americans send their representatives to Washington to represent them, which in no small part means voting, not institutionally delegating that representation to another member and diluting the authority entrusted to us by constituents. Two weeks ago, Speaker Pelosi and House Democrats upended 231-years of procedure by allowing proxy voting. We didn’t allow proxy voting during the Civil War, the Spanish Flu, while the Capitol was on fire, or in the wake of 9/11. Today, my colleagues and I are filing this lawsuit to ensure the People’s House remains the people’s, not a body dictated by the whims of a few dozen members.”
Eagle Forum applauds House Republican Leadership for continuing efforts to block Speaker Pelosi’s harmful agenda. We will update you as the lawsuit moves forward.
