House Democrats are quickly working behind-the-scenes to silence the American people by eliminating transparency and accountability. At the end of April, they cancelled a vote to pass proxy voting for the remainder of the COVID-19 crisis. Instead, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-NY) created a
bipartisan taskforce to find a way forward. Now, they are considering a vote on this very issue within the next week!
If this measure passes, a Member of Congress will be able to cast a vote for another Member who is not physically present. This measure puts those representatives who cannot be physically present in a position to have to bargain with another member just to get a vote, opening the door for unfettered corruption and facilitates the swift passage of potentially dangerous and unread bills.
After learning of these efforts several weeks ago, Eagle Forum
sent a letter House Republican leadership and to the ranking member of the House Committee on Rules asking that they stop any efforts to allow proxy voting. We were shocked to learn that Eagle Forum was the ONLY organization that weighed in on this issue.
Democrats have used the talking point that proxy voting would only be used for Coronavirus-related legislation, however, the pandemic has affected every aspect of commerce, including some of the most personal aspects of our lives. There is nothing sacred from being considered part of “Coronavirus legislation.” We have seen this with every liberal wishlist the Democrats have proffered as their “Coronvirus relief” bills. Lawmakers have rallied around these bills as “must-pass” legislation creating a hostile atmosphere for those who choose to openly oppose the initiatives, just as they do every year with “must-pass” defense and spending bills.
We need our representatives to be accountable to their constituents, not their proxies!
House Republicans must uphold the integrity of each representative’s vote and they must protect representatives’ accountability to people they represent.