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from The Washington Examiner

December 16, 2022
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No-shows: Dozens of lawmakers capitalize on final days of proxy voting

by Brady Knox

December 16, 2022
Dozens of members of Congress, including GOP representatives, are taking advantage of the final days of proxy voting before the new Republican majority pledges to do away with the pandemic-era practice in the new year.

On Thursday, nearly one-fifth of representatives failed to show up to cast votes in person; Politico counted 53 Democrats and 26 Republicans who voted by proxy. The significant number of absent Republicans is notable, as GOP leadership has balked at the practice — and filed an unsuccessful lawsuit in 2020 calling the no-show option unconstitutional.

“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," House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said in March. “According to data analyzed by[2] The Ripon Society, it appears proxy voting is often used as a way to create longer weekends—with Members voting by proxy twice as often on Fridays compared to Wednesdays, even when some had been physically present on the Floor earlier in the same week.”

“We have seen days where 50, 100, and even more than 150 Members have elected to vote by proxy on a measure—for no other reason than accommodating their own schedule," he added, putting Thursday's total of 79 proxy voters as not unusual.

Proxy voting was originally introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic as a health precaution but has held over, even since the end of other pandemic restrictions, and has been used as a way to lock in votes with Democrats' very narrow House majority.

McCarthy and 160 other Republicans filed a suit against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) over the policy, arguing it was unconstitutional, but the Supreme Court declined to take the case.

Republicans' stance on proxy voting has softened since. Through December 2021, roughly 70% of the GOP plaintiffs would utilize proxy voting themselves, according to an analysis from the Brookings Institution. They are among approximately 80% of members of Congress who have embraced the option at least once for various reasons.

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