Trump Backs Luna’s Bill to Allow New Parents in Congress to Vote by Proxy

President Donald Trump has endorsed the bill that Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., left the House Freedom Caucus over, which would allow proxy voting for members of Congress who are new parents.

“I don’t know why it’s controversial,” the president told reporters on Air Force One on Thursday.

Luna left the conservative Freedom Caucus over other members’ opposition to the bill she co-sponsored with Rep. Brittany Pettersen, D-Colo., that would allow moms and dads in Congress to vote by proxy for 12 weeks after the birth of a baby.

Trump said he spoke to Luna on Wednesday about the bill.

“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.”

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., declined to put the bill on the floor Tuesday, but Luna joined with more than 200 Democrats and nine other Republicans to use a discharge petition to circumvent leadership and force a vote.

That temporarily blocks Republicans from bringing up other House business, forcing Johnson to cancel votes for the rest of the week. 

Johnson thinks allowing proxy voting “would do great violence to the institution to reopen Pandora’s box,” he said before the vote, contending that proxy voting is unconstitutional and a slippery slope.

“If you allow it for some situations, you’re ultimately going to have to allow it for all,” Johnson said. “And I think that destroys the deliberative nature of the body.”

Press secretary Karoline Leavitt told The Daily Signal at Tuesday’s press conference that she had not spoken to the president about his thoughts on the proxy voting bill.

Some conservatives say parents like Luna and Pettersen should be willing to sacrifice their careers in Congress for their families.

“If you are unable to fulfill the duties required of a member of Congress because you are a parent of a small child, feel free to resign. Many have before,” Evita Duffy-Alfonso, daughter of Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy, wrote on X.

Duffy-Alfonso cited her father stepping down from Congress after her younger sister was born with Down syndrome and two holes in her heart.

“Proxy voting is unconstitutional and will be abused and expanded,” Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, wrote on X. “Show up for work, or don’t run for Congress.”

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