What The Hell America!

A petition to allow House members who recently welcomed a baby to cast their vote remotely, via another member, froze the chamber’s business last week. Now, the fight to get a final vote on the matter might be over — and with it, the potential image of a GOP leadership that opposed making it easier for new mothers to serve in Congress.

Reps. Anna Paulina Luna, a Florida Republican, and Brittany Pettersen, a Colorado Democrat, had mounted a push to allow proxy voting for new parents if health circumstances limited their ability to travel to Washington. They got the support of more than half the House for a move that would circumvent leadership and force a vote on a resolution. And then, in a stunning defeat for House Speaker Mike Johnson and GOP leadership, a group of Republican members joined with Democrats to vote down an attempt to kill the resolution last week.

Things have moved quickly since. Luna and Johnson reached a deal Sunday, in which Luna would not raise her discharge petition again while Johnson would pursue options to make the House more accessible to new parents. 

Leadership will also try to formalize “vote pairing,” a process that allows a member to coordinate with a lawmaker who is voting opposite their stance and willing to abstain to effectively cancel out their vote. This has only been an option under specific circumstances in the past, but will be open to the entire conference when they are unable to vote, Luna posted on X on Sunday.

“Thanks to [the president] and his guidance, as well as all of those who worked to get this change done,” Luna posted on Sunday night. “This is becoming the most modern, pro-family Congress we’ve ever seen.”

The process is not equivalent to voting by proxy or in absentia — the absent member’s vote is only offset and is not recorded into the final tally. GOP leadership has not provided additional details on enforcement or limitations. Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska used the process in 2018 during Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation, pairing her vote with Montana Sen. Steve Daines to cancel out each other’s vote.

The speaker’s additional suggestions to increase accessibility for new parents in the Capitol include a room for nursing parents; increased access to day care services; and allowing parents to use official funds to travel between their districts and Washington, D.C.

But the vote pairing solution falls short, Pettersen said in a statement. 

Johnson had “gone to historic lengths to kill our resolution and make sure the large majority of his members don’t have a voice. Let’s be clear: these changes are not a win for us and Speaker Johnson has turned his back on moms and dads in Congress,” she said. 

Voting on the discharge petition brought the lower chamber to a standstill last week, as House Freedom Caucus members and other Republicans refused to vote for rules unless the measure was killed. Representatives were sent home early last Tuesday, frozen ahead of Congress’ lofty goal of passing an agreed-upon budget before Easter.

Johnson repeatedly stated his opposition to the petition, saying proxy voting is unconstitutional. He tried to tank the proposal by attaching it to the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act — a GOP proof-of-citizenship bill — to avoid Democratic votes on the issue, which are needed to pass the petition with a majority. 

The House speaker also went directly to President Donald Trump last week, after Trump had already spoken with Luna, reported Punchbowl News.

“You’re having a baby, you should be able to call in and vote. I’m in favor of that,” Trump told reporters outside Air Force One earlier that day.

Throughout the last month, the discharge petition garnered significant pushback from Republicans, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, who went back and forth with Luna on X over Greene’s use of proxy voting in 2022. 

“Poor Anna, you are being used by the Democrats to bring back proxy voting when you are clearly, in your own words, against people receiving taxpayer funded paychecks working from home,” Greene said in an April 4 post. “Serving in Congress is a privilege, not a career choice. If you need a job with better perks like maternity leave then step down and allow someone else to serve in your place.”

Jean Sinzdak, associate director of Rutgers University’s Center for American Women and Politics, said some of the opposition stems from a mentality that members of Congress should be held to a different career standard.

“This idea that elected officials, if you’re elected to serve, you must be willing to do anything at any time, all the time you’re serving the public. There’s no room for that kind of balance or thoughtfulness — they’re still human beings,” Sinzdak said.