'Supporter of mamas': Momentum builds for proxy voting for House parents
Source: Roll Call
Posted March 11, 2025 at 4:58pm, Updated at 6:21pm
The effort to change House rules to allow recent mothers and fathers to vote by proxy is picking up steam, and proponents can now circumvent leadership and force a floor vote in the coming weeks. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., who has led the charge with Rep. Brittany Pettersen, D-Colo., filed a discharge petition that accumulated signatures from a majority of House members by Tuesday evening.
“I’m hopeful that we’re going to actually get it passed,” Pettersen told reporters Tuesday from the House steps while holding her son, who is a little more than a month old. “It’s a bipartisan issue. There’s a lot of really intense and chaotic things happening here in Washington. It’s great that we can have something that we can come together on and support each other when we’re new parents.”
This latest proxy voting push began with Pettersen, who announced in September that she was pregnant and had to miss votes around her delivery in January. Luna, who gave birth herself in 2023, introduced a separate proposal last Congress to create a proxy voting carve-out for parents, but it saw no movement amid opposition from Republican leadership. This Congress, they teamed up on a resolution that would allow for new parents to vote by proxy for up to 12 weeks. Pettersen introduced the legislation in January, and Luna filed the discharge petition earlier this week. A dozen Republicans had signed on to the petition as of 6 p.m. on Tuesday.
On the steps earlier in the day, Pettersen worked to whip one who ended up coming on board, Georgia Rep. Rich McCormick, who stopped to admire her newborn. “Hey, we need to ask this guy to sign,” Pettersen said. McCormick said he was leaning toward supporting the effort. “I think that’s a great cause. That’s not a partisan issue. I think that’s just good for people,” McCormick said. Speaker Mike Johnson has been ardently opposed to the effort, saying he sympathized with young mothers in the House but claiming proxy voting is “unconstitutional.” Through a spokesperson, Johnson declined to comment Tuesday.
Read more: https://rollcall.com/2025/03/11/supporter-of-mamas-momentum-builds-proxy-voting-house-parents/
When the hell was the last time he actually READ the Constitution??? The ceding of the Legislative Branch (including the House) power to the Executive Branch IS what is unconstitutional. The Constitution DOES say this - https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/articlei
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Section 5.
Each House shall be the judge of the elections, returns and qualifications of its own members, and a majority of each shall constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the attendance of absent members, in such manner, and under such penalties as each House may provide.
Each House may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two thirds, expel a member.
(snip)
THAT was upheld by the SCOTUS.
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