House Republicans asked a federal judge Tuesday to intervene and block Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s designated-voter plans, which would allow members to give cast votes on legislation on the House floor by proxy during the coronavirus crisis.
Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the top Republican, said proxy-voting — which was expected to be used for the first time ever in votes this week — breaks with 231 years of House history.
Under the new rules, which Mrs. Pelosi pushed through the chamber earlier this month, lawmakers are allowed to designate a colleague to vote in their stead during floor action.
As of Tuesday evening 59 Democrats had already submitted their proxies, with one lawmaker named the designated voter by five others.
“Ultimately, as few as 20 members could control the vote of over 220 members under this rule for the foreseeable future,” Mr. McCarthy said. “That is not only irresponsible leadership, it is patently unconstitutional, as 230 years of Congressional history and Supreme Court precedent make abundantly clear.”
Mrs. Pelosi called the lawsuit a “sad stunt” and said it was an attempt to delay Democrats from passing coronavirus legislation.
“As our nation approaches the heartbreaking milestone of 100,000 lives lost to COVID-19, House Republicans must stop their dangerous obstruction and join Democrats to save lives, defeat the virus and grow the economy,” the California Democrat said.
The 38-page complaint, filed in court in Washington, D.C., says proxy voting violates the Constitution’s requirement that lawmakers be, in the words of the lawsuit, “actually present” to constitute a quorum or to be recorded as “Yeas and Nays” on votes.
If lawmakers didn’t actually have to be present, the Constitution wouldn’t have a mechanism to force attendance of absent members, the lawsuit said.
Republicans said the House has sustained in-person business through the Civil War, the Yellow Fever epidemic of 1793, the influenza of 1918 and the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Democrats, though, say they’re confident that the courts won’t stop them.
Mrs. Pelosi says judges have long held that Congress has the power to write its own rules without interference from the judiciary.
And she says proxy voting has been used in committees before, with little difficulty. Indeed, it is still used in Senate committees at this time.
Proxy voting is already becoming an issue in campaigns, with GOP challengers blasting Democrats who they say gave their votes away.
Brian Maryott, a Republican running against Rep. Mike Levin in California, said the congressman was betraying voters by turning over his floor voting powers to Rep. Dan Kildee, a Democrat from across the country in Michigan.
“If Mike is dead-set on allowing someone else to represent our district in Washington, I will volunteer to go in his place, and voters should keep that in mind in November,” Mr. Maryott said.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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