Democrats are preventing Rep. Tammy Duckworth, a pregnant wounded war veteran, from voting by proxy in next week’s caucus leadership elections, despite a doctor ordering Ms. Duckworth not to fly to Washington so late in her pregnancy.
The Illinois Democrat is expecting her first child in early December. The former Army officer lost both legs when her helicopter was shot down by a rocket propelled grenade 10 years ago in Iraq. As a result, her pregnancy is considered high-risk and she was expected to be on bed rest in November, the Associated Press reported earlier this year.
Since she won’t be able to travel to Washington, she asked to vote by proxy in next week’s caucus elections, which will include a contested race to replace retiring Rep. Henry Waxman as top Democrat on the Energy and Commerce Committee.
But Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, and Rep. Rosa DeLauro, Connecticut Democrat, denied the request, saying that caucus rules strictly prohibit voting by proxy.
“Congresswoman DeLauro does not want to set a precedent,” said Sara Lonardo, a spokeswoman for Ms. DeLauro. “There are many meritorious situations where the argument could be made for a waiver, including Congresswoman Duckworth’s. The question is, how do you choose?”
After fellow Illinoisan Rep. Jan Schakowsky made the request for Ms. Duckworth in a closed-door Democratic meeting, Rep. Gwen Moore of Wisconsin made her own request to vote by proxy since she will be at a funeral on Tuesday, according to a Democratic aide in the room for the discussion.
“After that, the mood of the room turned on the motion with members realizing the slippery slope argument that others had made. Schakowsky realized this and pulled her motion,” the aide said. “The Moore speech was the pivotal moment for the motion.”
Ms. Duckworth said she will respect the caucus’ decision to not allow her to vote.
“I submitted a request to the caucus to allow for a proxy vote due to my pregnancy. The caucus chose not to allow me to vote via proxy,” she said in a statement. “I respect the process and very much appreciated my colleagues who made sure my request was considered.”
While members publicly say the decision was made to avoid setting precedent for future votes, some staffers privately speculated that Ms. Duckworth is being prevented from voting because she doesn’t support Ms. Pelosi’s pick for ranking member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, National Journal reported.
While Ms. Pelosi is supporting Rep. Anna Eshoo of California in her bid to serve as ranking member of the committee, Ms. Duckworth has said she would vote for Rep. Frank Pallone of New Jersey, according to the article.
The senior Democratic aide said it is “disgusting” that some are trying to politicize a decision made in accordance with the caucus’ rules.
“This was done intentionally to create a stir,” the aide said.
• Jacqueline Klimas can be reached at jklimas@washingtontimes.com.
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