Nine House Republicans joined all 213 Democrats Tuesday to keep alive a bill that would allow lawmakers who are new parents to cast proxy votes for three months after their child’s birth.
The GOP revolt, spearheaded by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), was a blow to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who swiftly moved to cancel scheduled votes for the remainder of the week.
Last month, Luna (R-Fla.) secured the required 218 signatures to a parliamentary tool known as a discharge petition, forcing a vote on her bill to allow proxy voting for new moms, pregnant women who are unable to travel safely or have a serious medical condition, and lawmakers whose spouses are pregnant or giving birth.
A bid to quash the petition and prohibit further proxy voting proposals — tucked into an otherwise routine rules package — failed 222-206 Tuesday, giving the House two legislative days to consider Luna’s measure with a final vote expected next week.
“Never bet against a Luna,” the Florida lawmaker, who gave birth to her first child in August 2023, cheered after the vote.
Tuesday’s vote came one day after Luna left the hard-right House Freedom Caucus, saying they had “blackmailed” Johnson into trying to kill her petition.
Democrats rallied around Luna’s measure, with Rep. Brittany Pettersen (D-Colo.) addressing the House with her crying two-month-old, Samuel, in her arms.
“When I was pregnant, I couldn’t fly towards the end of my due date because it was unsafe for Sam and you’re unable to board a plane,” Pettersen said. “And I was unable to have my vote represented here and my constituents’ vote represented.
“It is unfathomable that in 2025, we have not modernized Congress.”
“Given the chance to actually support families, they turn their backs,” added Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), directing his comments to Republicans. “A majority of the chamber is upending what the majority in this chamber wants.”
Luna’s bill would allow House members to designate a colleague to cast votes for them when they cannot by physically present in the chamber in order to care for their newborns.
Proxy voting was allowed by then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
Republicans barred proxy voting — which is also prohibited in the US Senate — after regaining control of the House in January 2023, with then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), Johnson and others arguing the practice is unconstitutional.
The speaker, a father of five, has said that he sympathizes with the struggles of new parents, but has cited the Constitution’s Quorum Clause — Article I, Section 5, Clause 1 — which states that a majority of each house needs to be present in order to conduct business.
“I believe it violates more than two centuries of tradition and institution,” Johnson said late last month. “And I think that it opens a Pandora’s box, where ultimately, maybe no one is here.”
“I believe we should show up to work,” argued Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), a father of two. “I believe, like every other single American who has to physically get in their car, go get in traffic, go show up to their job, go show up to the job site, go work all day in the sun.”
“For all of the people who have served in this body, it is important that we meet in Congress,” he added. “What is at stake here is the future of the institution.”
Republicans who joined Luna during the rule vote Tuesday included Tim Burchett of Tennessee, Mike Lawler and Nick LaLota of New York, Will Kiley of California, Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey, Max Miller of Ohio, Greg Steube of Florida and Ryan Mackenzie of Pennsylvania.
In a statement following the vote, Miller said he “could not in good conscience vote for an unprecedented rule that would pull the rug out from under Representative Luna’s discharge petition that got the required signatures fair and square.
“I had a baby girl just over a year ago and in the first weeks of her life there were some complications,” Miller added. “I cannot imagine a mother, who has spent [nine] months going through the wringer, being told that you can’t be with your infant only because you are one of 435 people. We are the pro-life, pro-family party. As a new dad, I just couldn’t support it.”
