[American Thinker] Is karma going to come calling for Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats? I know that it sounds crazy, yet another improbable scenario in a season when our hopes have been dashed repeatedly after hearing predictions that a stolen presidential election would be rectified in the courts. But the scenario that follows is far from impossible, given House rules for voting in person, the tiniest House of Representatives majority (9 votes) in decades, the deep ideological split within the Democrats (downplayed or ignored by the partisan media) and the fading lucidity of Nancy Pelosi.Mike Lillis and Scott Wong of The Hill point out that
...lawmakers must be present on the House floor to cast their vote for Speaker, precluding the option for members to vote remotely, as many have done throughout the pandemic. [emphasis added]
This differs from the rules under which House members have been voting since COVID became a factor. Matt Margolis of PJ Media explains:
While House members can vote by proxy due to emergency rules adopted in May to protect members from getting and spreading COVID-19, but, as The Hill reports, "the proxy-voting rule expires with the new Congress, requiring lawmakers to be in the Capitol in person if they want to participate in the Jan. 3 floor vote for Speaker."
New rules governing the 117th Congress happen after the vote for speaker.
House Democrats have been taking advantage of this proxy-voting rule in significant numbers. On December 18, nearly 90 Democrats voted by proxy.
Lillis and Wong point out that 2 years ago, Pelosi lost the votes of 15 House Democrats, enough to deny her the speakership this time around, and this time there will be defections: