McCarthy Ends Proxy Voting “Effective Immediately”

January 20, 2023 Politics, Republicans

House Republicans have officially ended the practice of proxy voting, which was established during the COVID-19 pandemic to permit lawmakers to vote without being present in-person. Proxy voting was established by former Speaker Nancy Pelosi in May 2020 to allow Congress to operate under COVID-19 protocols.

Republicans have argued this policy enabled abuse, though many GOP lawmakers took advantage of proxy voting. In 2020, 160 Republicans signed on to a lawsuit brought by McCarthy challenging the practice that was rejected by the Supreme Court.

But by the end of 2021, roughly 70% of the original Republican plaintiffs had voted by proxy. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., and other Republicans have been caught using proxy voting to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference.

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No more proxy voting. Effective immediately, Members of Congress have to show up to work if they want their vote to count.

— Kevin McCarthy (@SpeakerMcCarthy) January 19, 2023