House Speaker Mike Johnson and other Republican leaders are trying to kill a push by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida to give new mothers i
Emily Singer at Daily Kos:
House Speaker Mike Johnson and other Republican leaders are trying to kill a push by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida to give new mothers in Congress the ability to vote by proxy as they recover from childbirth and bond with their newborns. Luna has the votes to pass the bipartisan legislation, which the Republican is co-sponsoring alongside Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-CA) and Rep. Brittany Pettersen (D-CO)—a new mother who has had to travel to Washington, D.C., multiple times with her infant child to avoid missing critical votes. But Politico reported that Johnson and other GOP leaders are trying to find a way to stop it from passing by bullying Republican members and even possibly changing the rules to block Luna's legislation from making it to the floor for a vote. [...] The discharge petition that could force a vote on the bill has 218 signatures from members of both parties, signaling its wide support. But Johnson claims he doesn't support the legislation because he believes proxy voting is unconstitutional, and allowing new mothers the opportunity to vote by proxy after giving birth is a “slippery slope” to allowing more groups the ability to proxy vote, like members who have to care for sick spouses or children—as if that’s such an awful thing.
[...] More likely than not, Johnson’s opposition to proxy voting for new mothers is due to his party’s extremely narrow House majority. Absences from Democratic lawmakers like Pettersen could help him pass partisan legislation with more breathing room. But the optics of this are terrible for the GOP—and even Republicans are admitting it.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA)’s opposition to proxy voting for new mothers in Congress is an attack on motherhood.
