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Once again, the Republicans are anything but pro-life.
20 GOP House members have sued House Speaker Nancy Pelosi over her new proxy voting system that will protect all House members — not just Democrats — during a pandemic that has killed over 100,000 Americans. The new system will allow representatives to cast floor votes for up to ten people, which will also decrease the health risks of their staff and hundreds of Capitol Hill employees.
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Mitch McConnell and his democracy slayers.
Moscow Mitch was aghast at democracy proceeding and has threatened to ignore any legislation passed under proxy — as opposed to the three-hundred and ninety-five House bills he’s already treated like junk mail.
McConnell has refused any proxy voting in the Senate, although it is permitted in smaller Senate committees. However, the Senate has 100 voting members; the House has 435 – over four times the number. That’s like comparing the population of the United States with Thailand.
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Lawsuit filers include those bastions of liberty, Republican Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana and House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy – who had this to say:
“It is a brazen violation of the Constitution, a dereliction of our duty as elected officials, and would silence the American people’s voice during a crisis.”
Actually, it would do the opposite of silencing the American people’s voice, but close enough, Kev.
Mitch seemed even more incensed.
“For about 231 years, Congresses have managed to fulfill this job requirement. They’ve worked through a Civil War, two world wars, terrorist threats, and a prior pandemic without trying to shirk this duty.”
They’ve also held hearings for Supreme Court Justices in an election year. So there’s that.
Too late, anyway, GOP!
Rep. Brendan Boyle makes history: He becomes the first House member to cast a vote on the floor for an absent member. He voted on behalf of Zoe Lofgren, who instructed him to vote for a procedural motion on the floor. It was allowed under new House proxy voting rules
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) May 27, 2020
Flickr/Gage Skidmore
Lovers of democracy, don’t despair! Nancy Pelosi is craftier than you think.
First, she told McConnell that the House gets to decide its own procedures.
“Remote voting by proxy is fully consistent with the Constitution and more than a century of legal precedent, including Supreme Court cases, that make clear the House can determine its own rules. Leader McConnell’s comments are deliberately misleading, as proxy voting has long been used by Senate committees. Simply and sadly, he is trying to find every excuse not to meet the needs of the American people.” – Nancy Pelosi
Then she decided to play the GOP’s game. The first bill the House will vote on via proxy and then send on to the Senate will be on FISA reauthorization, an important issue for Republicans. So now, thanks to the frivolous lawsuit, Senate GOP members will have to decide whether to back the lawsuit or the House of Pelosi.
Pelosi 1, Mitch 0.
Steny Hoyer brings it home!
“Article I, Section 5, clause 2 of the Constitution gives each house of Congress the ability to set its own rules. The courts have previously given the House wide latitude to do so, and the rule change we made to maintain public health fits within those bounds. There is no reason why we should put lives at risk when technology can enable us to meet remotely — just as Senate committees have done.” – Steny Hoyer, D-Maryland
