washington
CNN
—
Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna reiterated that as a pro-family champion, Speaker Mike Johnson should support his advocacy for allowing new mothers to vote remotely for six weeks while they recover from childbirth. I tried to persuade him.
he refused. She then switched to the Democratic Party.
Members of the House Freedom Caucus are currently working with a group of House Democrats backed by Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to implement measures that would give new parents more flexibility, meaning mothers as well as fathers. The plan is to give remote voting a full 12 weeks to voters.
He and his leading Democratic partner, pregnant Rep. Brittany Pettersen, plan to use an expulsion petition soon to force the bill to the floor, a highly unusual move for a lawmaker to go against his own leadership. This is a measure. And they believe the bill will pass because only a handful of Republicans need to join Democrats in supporting it.
“I don’t think it’s right for a leadership that prides itself on being pro-family, especially the Republican leadership, to be so anti-family,” a defiant Luna told CNN. “And really, this is a slap in the face to all the voters who sent us to Washington, D.C.”
This new push for remote voting, led by conservative Republicans, not only reflects a younger generation of lawmakers eager to modernize the system, but also provides support to all House members at a time when every vote counts. It also reflects strong pressure to physically attend. With House majorities historically thin, bills could be made or lost by members who are unable to vote for a variety of unavoidable reasons, including the birth of a child, chemotherapy treatment, or the death of a spouse.
And it is that same grim House calculation that empowers individual members like Luna to defy their own party leadership and work with Democrats.
In a brief interview with CNN, Johnson said it was “unconstitutional” to vote by proxy, even for new mothers who cannot travel. And the speaker, who worked in constitutional law for decades before coming to Congress, personally made that argument in a brief filed with the Supreme Court.
“It’s unfortunate. I have great sympathy and empathy for all the young women members of reproductive age. It’s really confusing,” Johnson told CNN. “But unfortunately, that is not consistent with the letter of the Constitution, and that is our inescapable truth.”
Luna calls this a “police response.”
Battle in the age of pandemic
Proxy voting in parliament has been the subject of intense political and legal debate since it was introduced during the coronavirus pandemic. House Republicans have long opposed the practice and abolished it after winning a majority in the 2022 election.
A federal court and appeals court in Washington, D.C., previously rejected a Republican-backed lawsuit challenging the House practice. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up McCarthy’s case. A separate lawsuit challenging proxy voting filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is currently pending in a federal appeals court.
Behind the scenes, Mr. Luna and other members of Congress — Republican Rep. Mike Lawler of New York, who has a 2-month-old child at home, and Democrats like Mr. Pettersen and fellow millennial Rep. Sarah Jacobs of California. MPs included – tried to work with Prime Minister Boris Johnson. His team worked to craft language that would gain support on Capitol Hill and withstand legal scrutiny. They changed the original language that Johnson said was unconstitutional in relation to establishing a “quorum” in the House of Commons.
When her appeals to Republican leadership failed, Ms. Luna decided to broker a compromise with Democrats, especially Mr. Pettersen, who is expecting her second child in February. The latest measure would allow both new mothers and fathers to vote remotely for 12 weeks, unlike Luna’s original bill, which would have only provided birth mothers with proxy voting for six weeks. (Those changes cost some Republican votes, according to people familiar with the discussions. Several Republicans privately said they would no longer support a bill that would include fathers.)
Republicans have privately acknowledged that given the House’s calculations, it is in their interest to give lawmakers some flexibility. Two other House Republicans also plan to become new fathers later this year.
However, many are reluctant to support discharge petitions that go against their leadership. Rep. Blake Moore, who sits in Mr. Johnson’s leadership chair and missed the birth of one of his children because of his job in the House of Commons, said he would not support the discharge petition.
“I’ve talked to both of those women, and their hearts are in the right place,” Moore told CNN, referring to Luna and Pettersen.
The push for proxy voting is a notable change for Luna, a Freedom Caucus member who initially opposed the idea. But she changed her mind after her own difficult birth, which made traveling to Washington difficult.
Luna plans to do more than just vote by proxy for new parents. The Florida Republican is leading an effort to give lawmakers limited access to remote voting in true emergencies, along with New Jersey Republican Rep. Jeff, who is leading an effort to give lawmakers limited access to remote voting in true emergencies, if Republican leadership approves the leave.・He said he intends to work with Mr. Van Drew.
Van Drew said it was a necessary step for Congress as some of his colleagues have been forced to choose between attending funerals, being with sick family members and missing out on big votes. Ta.
“We have an unprecedented small majority,” Van Drew told CNN. He stressed that voting in person is “absolutely our duty and our job,” but acknowledged that lawmakers sometimes face “extreme circumstances.”
But Van Drew recalled a conversation with a Republican who refused to support the proposal, knowing there would be fierce resistance from some in his caucus.
“I asked him, ‘What would you do if your father was in a hospital bed, about to die, and you cast an important vote for your country?'” Van Drew said. , he said, recalling his conversation with the member. “He looked me straight in the face and said, ‘My father will understand that I have to vote.'”
Rep. Chip Roy of Texas is among the Republicans adamantly opposed to voting by proxy, whether the member is recovering from childbirth or illness. He said this is not only unconstitutional, but also “not right.”
“We have to take into account the fact that the father of the 13-year-old and the 15-year-old is missing,” Roy said. “It’s a choice. And you have to decide if it’s worth it. Let me tell you, most days, I don’t know if it really is.”
Pettersen now faces difficult choices of her own.
Pettersen, who will be working at a district office in Lakewood, Colorado, for the next few weeks, wants to make it possible for new parents to vote remotely, even if they can’t get to the Capitol like she did. . The Democrat, whose due date is just weeks away, is no longer able to travel by plane. And it’s unclear when she might be able to return, with upcoming votes expected on President Trump’s agenda such as raising the U.S. debt ceiling and increasing government spending.
“It feels incredibly unfair that I can’t physically fly to Washington, D.C. to have my vote counted. It’s not safe for me or my baby,” Pettersen told CNN. . She added that her own decision to remain in Colorado was a difficult one. She briefly considered moving her family to Washington for the baby’s birth, but ultimately decided to stay home closer to her current doctor and the rest of her family. family.
She said it was also important for Parliament to “evolve” with the times, as women now make up about 28 percent of the House of Commons. (Luna is the 12th woman to give birth in Congress, and Pettersen is the 13th.)
“This is a facility designed for and by older white men,” said Jacobs, who decided to freeze her eggs for her job in the House of Representatives.
Supporters are hoping to get about 10 Republicans to join the expulsion petition to give them a cushion for passage.
They will be able to formally submit their discharge petitions around mid-March, 30 days after the introduction of the first measures. And Luna is confident.
“I love when people tell me it’s impossible to do something because I turn around and get it done,” she said.
