WASHINGTON — House lawmakers successfully shut down a bid by GOP leadership to nix a proposal allowing new parents to vote remotely, possibly teeing up the measure for a full vote next week.
Nine Republicans joined all Democrats in voting against a procedural measure designed to nullify a petition seeking to change House rules and allow new parents to vote by proxy for up to 12 weeks after having a baby. No Utah member sided with Democrats.
The Republicans who voted against the rule include Reps. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., Nick LaLota, R-N.Y., Max Miller, R-Ohio, Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., and Greg Steube, R-Fla.
The failed vote deals a blow to Republican leaders, who strategized for days on how to block the proposal from reaching the floor. It also marks the latest escalation in a growing fight between GOP leadership and a handful of its rank-and-file members who want to make it easier for expectant and new mothers to vote.
Luna and Pettersen join up on remote voting for new parents
Republican leadership has long rejected proposals to carve out those exceptions, prompting Reps. Luna and Brittany Pettersen, D-Colo., to file a discharge petition last week, which allows lawmakers to force votes on legislation even without leadership approval — so long as 218 members sign on.
But even after the pair secured the necessary support, GOP leaders remained adamant it would not be brought to the floor.
As a result, House Republicans tucked language to “turn off” the measure into a procedural package seeking to advance the SAVE Act, which would ban noncitizens from voting, and the No Rogue Rulings Act, which would restrict judges from blocking President Donald Trump’s agenda.
By attaching the proxy vote language to the unrelated legislation, it challenged rank-and-file Republicans to block two major cornerstones of the GOP agenda —putting some lawmakers, particularly those in vulnerable districts, in an uncomfortable position.
Because of the failed rule vote, those bills are now on hold until further notice. House leaders announced they would cancel votes for the rest of the week, delaying any action on Luna’s discharge petition until next week.
Speaker Johnson: GOP agenda blocked by vote
Meanwhile, Republican leaders are framing the rebellion as an obstacle to the GOP agenda.
“It’s a very disappointing result on the floor,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters after the vote. “Let me just make this clear, that rule being brought down means that we can’t have any further action on the floor this week. That means we will not be voting on the SAVE act for election integrity. We will not be voting on the rogue judges who are attacking President Trump’s agenda.”
Since giving birth in 2023, Luna has pushed to change current House rules, which state that members must be physically present to vote. However, the Florida Republican has hit roadblocks from GOP leaders who control what legislation can reach the floor.
In response, Luna crossed party lines to form an alliance with Pettersen, who gave birth in January. Luna and Pettersen’s petition reached the required signature threshold earlier this month.
“When you have to team up with mostly Democrats … who are in the minority — you know, we’re in the majority in the House, on the Republican side, we want to be able to move the Republican agenda,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., told reporters on Monday. “And you know, I’d rather not move Pelosi policies when we’re in the majority.”
Rules 101: How GOP is taking advantage of required procedures to squash bill
To understand how leadership sought to kill the legislation is to know how House procedure works.
Before legislation can be brought to the floor, leadership typically advances bills under what is known as a rules package. That package dictates specific terms for each bill such as debate time and amendments.
The package is then brought to the floor and must be approved by the full House before the pieces of legislation can be considered and voted on individually.
Bottom line: GOP leadership wanted to pressure lawmakers into nullifying the discharge petition by attaching it to the full rules package. However, that push proved unsuccessful and has resulted in stalled action until a new rules package is adopted.
Gamble for GOP leadership
The move was of course met with risks for Johnson and GOP leadership.
A rules package requires only a simple majority to pass and is typically approved along party lines regardless if lawmakers agree with the legislation included. Rule votes have also been utilized over the last two years to stage protests against leadership — which was the case when it came to the floor on Tuesday.
Luna warned last week that any effort to kill the proposal would not be successful, arguing there was substantial support among House Republicans to join Democrats in advancing the measure.
“I don’t play to lose,” Luna told reporters on Monday.
What lawmakers are saying
Still, the proposal has not been accepted by all House Republicans — and some conservatives have even gone so far to threaten their own revolt if the bill is brought to the floor and passed.
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, a member of the House Rules Committee, railed against the proxy voting bill last week, arguing the Constitution “does not even remotely contemplate remote voting.”
“You’re supposed to be present in the chamber. I think that’s important,” Roy told reporters on Tuesday. “I think everyday Americans are supposed to show up to work.”
Roy’s position is shared among some in the conservative House Freedom Caucus, with a handful of members pushing back against Luna’s discharge petition. That has led to internal tensions, ultimately leading to Luna’s departure from the group.
Luna informed Freedom Caucus members on Monday she would revoke her membership, specifically citing efforts to kill her proxy voting bill.
“This tactic was not just a betrayal of trust; it was a descent into the very behavior we have long condemned — a practice that we, as a group, have repeatedly criticized leadership for allowing,” she wrote in her resignation letter obtained by the Deseret News. “To those involved, I ask: Why? Why abandon the principles we’ve championed and resort to such conduct?”
Luna specifically called out Roy as well as Reps. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., and Morgan Griffith, R-Va., who all sit on the House Rules Committee, in accusing them of “chang(ing) our rules of governance” to shoot down her bill.
“I cannot remain part of a caucus where a select few operate outside its guidelines, misuse its name, broker backroom deals that undermine its core values and where the lines of compromise and transaction are blurred,” she wrote.
Meanwhile, Democrats have already seized on the efforts to accuse Republicans of making it harder for new moms to vote.