Article

2023-01-20 -Land of the Free

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy officially ends proxy voting

[FoxNews] House Republicans have officially ended the practice of proxy voting, which was established during the COVID-19 pandemic to permit lawmakers to vote without being present in-person.

"No more proxy voting," House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., announced Thursday. "Effective immediately, Members of Congress have to show up to work if they want their vote to count."

Proxy voting was established by former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., in May 2020 to allow Congress to operate under COVID-19 pandemic protocols. Instead of showing up for votes, a member of Congress could submit a letter to have a colleague announce their position on bills and amendments and even cast votes in their name.

In 2020, 160 Republicans signed on to a lawsuit brought by McCarthy challenging the practice that was rejected by the Supreme Court. But by the end of 2021, roughly 70% of the original Republican plaintiffs had voted by proxy, according to a study by the Brookings Institute.

While proxy voting was intended as a "public health emergency" policy, lawmakers in both parties have pawned off their votes to attend campaign events and other functions entirely unrelated to their health concerns with voting in-person.

McCarthy had vowed to end the practice if Republicans captured the House majority.

"The Senate has managed to maintain in-person Floor voting for the entirety of the past two years — with a much older population and a 50-50 makeup, no less," he said in December. "From the get-go, we warned that proxy voting would be misused as a means of convenience rather than as a precaution for health — and it has been, by members of both parties."

Posted by Skidmark 2023-01-20 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11132 views ] Top

#1 Yeh. Now get the rest of the Beltway back in their offices.

Posted by DooDahMan 2023-01-20 06:48|| 2023-01-20 06:48|| Front Page Top

#2 ^ Is that really such a good idea?

Posted by M. Murcek 2023-01-20 07:52|| 2023-01-20 07:52|| Front Page Top

#3 ^ Beat me to it.

Posted by Rex Mundi 2023-01-20 11:44|| 2023-01-20 11:44|| Front Page Top

#4 Proxy voting was no big deal when Democrats were the majority because they all voted the Nancy told them to vote anyway.

Posted by Abu Uluque 2023-01-20 12:04|| 2023-01-20 12:04|| Front Page Top

#5 The Continental Congress did not proxy sign the Declaration. They wheeled in at least one dying guy from out of state to get it approval for the thing. Congress Critters were proxy voting and then jetting to Puerto Rico for beach vacations.

Posted by Super Hose 2023-01-20 12:22|| 2023-01-20 12:22|| Front Page Top

#6 ^ Which tells us all we need to know about how seriously they take representing us citizens. Our vote is little more than steaming cat turd to them. They don't even bother counting these days, they just declare winners after enough times as elapsed after election day.

Posted by Rex Mundi 2023-01-20 12:44|| 2023-01-20 12:44|| Front Page Top

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