House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy on Wednesday said the House’s new rules on proxy voting are meant to shore up power for Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a day after the House GOP filed a lawsuit to block them.
“This is endangering the Constitution to ensure that Pelosi has more power,” Mr. McCarthy, California Republican, said on “Fox & Friends.”
He pointed out that Congress convened during previous times of crisis like 9/11 and the Civil War.
“63 Democrats will not show up for work today but still be paid,” Mr. McCarthy said. “You cannot read the Constitution without clearly seeing that our founders believed we should meet together.”
He said Congress is allowed to dictate its own rules, but not if they’re unconstitutional.
“If that is true, then Congress can make a rule that only women can vote, that only California can vote, that Republican votes only count half a percent,” Mr. McCarthy said. “They cannot do something unconstitutional.”
House Republicans on Tuesday sued over the new proxy voting rules, which allow members to designate representatives to cast votes on their behalf during the coronavirus pandemic.
Mrs. Pelosi called the lawsuit a “sad stunt” and said it shows House Republicans want to delay action to deal with the COVID-19 outbreak.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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