Trump weighs in on proxy voting for new parents in the House of Representatives

President Trump weighs in on the issue of proxy voting for new parents in the House of Representatives

While aboard Air Force One Thursday evening, Trump said he's in favor of proxy voting for new mothers, but says it's Speaker Johnson's call

It's a little controversial. I don't know why it's controversial. 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

I'm in favor of that. Last year, Florida Representative Anna Paulina Luna introduced a bill that would allow new mothers and fathers to vote by proxy for 12 weeks after their child is born

The bill would allow the new moms and dads to stay home for three months rather than vote in person in the chamber following childbirth

Speaker Johnson opposes the measure, saying it would open Pandora's box for the institution and would not bring it to the floor for a vote

However earlier this week 218 lawmakers signed a discharge petition to get around Johnson and bring the bill to the floor for consideration Nine Republicans joined every House Democrat rejecting Johnson plan to kill the bill After Johnson defeat he sent House members home for the rest of the week The bill still has

not been brought to the floor for a full vote. In a post on X, Johnson said in part to allow proxy

voting for one category of members would open the door for many others and ultimately result in

remote voting that would harm the operation of our deliberative body and diminish the critical

role of the legislative branch. Luna also responded to Trump's comments, thanking the

president for, quote, supporting a pro-family Congress. She also said Speaker Johnson called

her after Trump made his remarks, stating in part, Speaker Johnson has called me after the

president's statement, and we discussed limiting the vote to just new moms who cannot physically

travel in the event of an emergency, etc. This is smart. The only time in history House members

were allowed to vote by proxy was during the COVID-19 pandemic, which Speaker Johnson took

part in. For Straight Arrow News, I'm Lauren Taylor. For more on this story

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