Green Bay Reporter

Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) on Oct. 12 shared a video on Twitter that said that representatives that are voting by proxy are neglecting their duty.

The House of Representatives first authorized proxy voting, which allows representatives to choose not to travel to D.C. to participate in hearings and votes, in May of 2020. Since then, Speaker Nancy Pelosi has repeatedly extended the proxy voting allowance. In May of 2021, House Republican leadership sent a letter to the Speaker asking her to end proxy voting, told by the Congressional Institute.

“Rep. Gallagher on the nearly 200 members of Congress voting by proxy tonight: ‘Don’t sign your name on a piece of paper that says you can’t carry out your duty because of the pandemic," Gallagher said in a video shared in an Oct. 12 tweet. "It’s lying, it’s unethical, it’s unconstitutional and it's destroying Congress."

The COVID pandemic is the first time that proxy voting was ever allowed. It also allows hearings to be held virtually. House members can designate a colleague to vote for them.

Members are allowed to vote on behalf of up to 10 of their colleagues. When proxy voting was first introduced, Republican House members filed a lawsuit, stating that the practice was unconstitutional. The lawsuit was dismissed. Axios has reported that Speaker Pelosi plans to extend the proxy voting deadline through the end of 2021, told by Fulcrum.

In California, 38 of the states 53 House members (more than 70%) have voted by proxy in the last year, which is greater than the national average of all House members – 60%. Some Californian legislators have used the proxy vote more than 250 times since the beginning of the pandemic. Republicans argue that if essential workers can do their jobs in person, so can legislators, told by LA Times.