More than a quarter of Democrats plan remote voting this week

Dozens of House Democrats have signaled they will vote remotely this week under a historic change that will, for the first time, allow proxy voting to pass legislation.

No Republicans so far have indicated they’ll seek a proxy vote, and GOP leaders Tuesday filed a lawsuit in D.C. District Court to block the proxy voting scheme.

As of Tuesday afternoon, about 60 Democrats sent letters to the House Clerk’s office indicating they won’t be showing up in the Capitol this week but will instead designate a lawmaker who will be present to vote in their absence. The absent lawmakers who plan to vote by proxy make up more than a quarter of the entire Democratic Caucus.

House Democrats voted earlier this month to change the rules to allow remote business in response to the coronavirus outbreak. The rule allows a lawmaker to vote for up to 10 absent colleagues as long as they inform the clerk and indicate their vote.

Republicans have criticized the change, announcing their plans to sue to challenge the constitutionality of both the proxy vote and rule change allowing proxy voting lawmakers to be used to establish a quorum.

“Giving your vote as a member of Congress to another person is just simply not allowed and not envisioned in the Constitution,” a GOP leadership aide said Monday.

But Democrats said it complies with both the Constitution and the advice of the House physician, who said there are health risks associated with having all 431 lawmakers travel back to Washington, D.C., and gather in the Capitol.

“Proxy voting is a member voting,” Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told reporters Tuesday, defending the change to the rules.

“Not in the chamber, but voting just as real, just as effectively on behalf of their 750,000 people," Hoyer said. "We believe proxy voting is consistent not only with the Constitution but consistent with the responsibility a member has to express the views of their constituents, whether or not they can get to Washington, D.C.”

Absent lawmakers must designate a colleague who will be on the House floor to serve as a proxy.

House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita Lowey is among the lawmakers who will not show up this week.

Lowey wrote to House Clerk Cheryl Johnson Tuesday, informing her, “I am unable to physically attend proceedings in the House chamber due to the ongoing public health emergency…”

Lowey has designated fellow New York Democrat Grace Meng to vote in her place.

Many of the lawmakers who plan to vote by proxy represent West Coast districts. More than a dozen letters to the clerk designating a proxy are from California lawmakers.

Republicans voted against the rule change, and most are likely to show up in person Wednesday and Thursday.
“GOP members are eager to get back to work,” a senior House GOP aide told the Washington Examiner.

The GOP whip, Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, has “strongly encouraged” Republican lawmakers to come to the Capitol to vote and to avoid using the new proxy voting scheme. In a memo to Republican lawmakers, the whip’s office encouraged lawmakers who cannot make it to the district to submit their vote for the record rather than have it officially record it using a proxy.

The House plans to vote this week on several bills, many of them under special rules allowing only an hour of debate and requiring a three-fourths approval vote for passage.

They’ll also consider a measure to extend a critical federal surveillance law that has expired as well as a bill to add more flexibility to a new federal spending program aimed at helping small businesses survive the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus outbreak.

The House this week began conducting online committee hearings.

The Oversight and Government Reform panel held a “video briefing” with Health and Human Services Deputy Inspector General Christi Grimm, who issued a report warning of shortages of protective equipment for healthcare workers.

The top Republican on the committee complained about the virtual format.

“This so-called briefing should be an in-person hearing to provide real transparency in the work of Congress,” Rep. Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican, said. “We must lead by example. States are opening up. Congress should be getting back to work, just like states are.”