House GOP Sue Pelosi Over Proxy Voting — House Speaker Fires Back
House Republicans are suing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and other federal court officials to block proxy voting, and Pelosi is not staying silent in response. In the 38-page lawsuit filed on Tuesday, McCarthy…
House Republicans are suing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and other federal court officials to block proxy voting, and Pelosi is not staying silent in response.
In the 38-page lawsuit filed on Tuesday, McCarthy, along with 20 other lawmakers — including House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) and Conference Chairwoman Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) — said the move for proxy voting defies an “unbroken record of historical precedent and heedless of every relevant constitutional provision.”
“It is simply impossible to read the Constitution and overlook its repeated and emphatic requirement that Members of Congress actually assemble in their respective chambers when they vote, whether on matters as weighty as declaring war or as ordinary as naming a bridge.”
The lawsuit comes shortly after Pelosi authorized on May 20 a 45-day remote voting period that allows House members to vote by proxy due to the coronavirus pandemic. It was approved, largely along party lines, in the House of Representatives on May 15.
This allows a lawmaker to vote by proxy on behalf of 10 other members who can’t travel to Washington, D.C.
Several lawmakers took to Twitter to express their disagreement with the proxy voting, as they deemed it “unconstitutional.”
McCarthy also wrote in a statement:
“Rapid and robust legal relief is necessary. The alternative — a small number of members dictating the businesses of the whole House while the people’s voice is diluted — is unacceptable and would only make it more difficult for Congress to respond in the national interest. We must assemble.”
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In a statement responding to the lawsuit, Pelosi said, “House Republicans’ sad stunt shows that their only focus is to delay and obstruct urgently-needed action to meet the needs of American workers and families during the coronavirus crisis.”
She added:
“The House’s position that remote voting by proxy during a pandemic is fully consistent with the Constitution is supported by expert legal analyses. As our nation approaches the heartbreaking milestone of 100,000 lives lost to COVID-19, House Republicans must stop their dangerous obstruction and join Democrats to save lives, defeat the virus and grow the economy.”
The first voting by proxy in the House is expected to occur on Wednesday.