House Democrats Set to Approve Proxy Voting Amid Pandemic

(Bloomberg) -- Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democrats are set to push aside more than 200 years of House precedent with a Friday vote to let lawmakers serve as proxies for colleagues quarantined or otherwise stuck at home by the coronavirus pandemic.

This low-tech version of remote voting is the Democrats’ temporary answer to health and travel concerns raised by dozens of lawmakers. It would alter House rules to let individual members to cast votes on behalf of as many as 10 colleagues.

It’s been dismissed by Republicans as a way to let lawmakers stay home while other Americans are going to work and as a move that would have constitutional implications.

Several lawmakers have contracted Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus, and dozens of others placed themselves in self-quarantine after exposure to someone who was infected. The sister of California Representative Maxine Waters died as a result of an infection.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said a failure of the House to adopt the “use of new tools” will lead to a sidelined legislative branch and an upset in the balance of power enshrined in the Constitution.

Future Crises

“If the House cannot engage in its full work now, during this crisis, we will not be able to live up to our Article I responsibilities in future crises,” Hoyer wrote in a “Dear Colleague” letter Wednesday to fellow Democrats. “The House must rise to this challenge -- and we will.”

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California, in a tweet on Thursday, called the move “unbelievable.”

“At a time when millions of Americans are desperate to get back to work, Democrats are about to give themselves a free pass to skip work altogether,” McCarthy said on Twitter.

The No. 2 Republican in the House, Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana, said that Pelosi and Democrats have abandoned bipartisan talks on how to best resume House operations safely. He accused them of trying “a power grab” by changing voting rules.

“Democrats are jamming through a rules change that would upend 200 years of precedent and have serious constitutional and institutional repercussions,” Scalise said.

The proxy voting plan stops well short of proposals by some Democrats to let them vote electronically from their home states. Pelosi and others have expressed concern that remote-voting technology may not be secure or could present constitutional challenges.

Representative Tom Cole of Oklahoma said he was concerned that the rule change opened the way for remote voting in the future. Aside from any constitutional questions, Cole said it would be a step toward fundamentally altering the way the House does business, “face to face, with members building relationships and hashing out differences.”

The House is returning to Washington Friday to vote on the rules change and the Democrats’ $3 trillion plan for additional pandemic relief.

Lawmakers received updated guidance from House sergeant at arms Paul Irving and Congress’ attending physician Brian Monahan on health-related precautions and procedures for the Friday session.

Face coverings or masks are “strongly” recommended in the guidance, and lawmakers will be called to the floor to vote alphabetically in groups of about 72. There are other limitations on when members can be on the floor during debate periods, and visitor galleries will be closed to the public.

“In all cases members and staff must maintain 6-foot social distance spacing as much as practicable when in the offices or the Capitol,” the guidance says.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.