House Leadership, Luna End Deadlock Over Proxy Voting

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., has reached a deal with Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., to allow new parents to take leave while maintaining their legislative power—a contentious issue that froze activity in the House of Representatives last week.

Luna announced that she had come to an agreement with Johnson on Sunday, freeing up the House to vote on the Senate’s budget plan this week.

“Speaker Johnson and I have reached an agreement to bring back a procedure called live/dead pairing, which dates back to the 1800s. It will be open for the entire conference to use when unable to vote (e.g., new parents, bereaved, emergencies, etc.),” wrote Luna.

“Vote pairing” is a practice in which a lawmaker who must be absent from Congress will come to an agreement with a lawmaker “on the opposite side of a specific question.”

Under this framework, a pair of lawmakers could announce their pact to stay out of the legislative process, thereby cancelling each other’s votes. 

The Hill reported Sunday that Johnson had confirmed these terms.

For weeks, Luna has been aggressively pushing for a new rule to allow for new mothers to vote remotely. She created a stir last week with her discharge petition to force a vote on the matter. Luna even left the House Freedom Caucus due to members’ opposition to the measure.

Johnson introduced a plan to prevent the vote from coming to the floor, a countermeasure which was defeated 206-222, with nine Republicans joining Democrats in defiance of leadership.

Johnson, who opposes proxy voting, put all activity in the House on hold in response, saying he was “very disappointed.”

Amid the drama, President Donald Trump told the press that he would allow the Speaker to settle the matter, but that he sympathized with Luna.

“I’m going to let the speaker make the decision, but I like the idea of being able to, if you’re having a baby, I think you should be able to call in and vote,” the president said. 

“I’m in favor of that, but I understand some people aren’t involved in the issue, but I did, I spoke to Anna yesterday. She and some people feel strongly about it, and I would agree with them.”

Ultimately, Johnson and Luna came to an agreement which affords new parents some flexibility, but does not open the floodgates to a wave of uncontrolled proxy voting.

With this issue in the rear view mirror, Republican House leadership can turn their gaze to a more pressing matter—getting lawmakers on board with the Trump-endorsed budget plan passed by the Senate Saturday.

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