April 07, 2025 04:31 PM UTC

APL Folds Under Pressure But Proxy Voting For New Parents Will Be Back

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• by: Colorado Pols

As AP’s Lisa Mascaro reports via the Colorado Sun, GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson appears to have succeeded in his quest to keep the U.S. House as unaccomodating for babies and their companion adults in office as possible, shutting down the discharge petition from Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida to force a vote on a bill to allow proxy voting for new parents:

House Speaker Mike Johnson and Florida Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, who has been leading the bipartisan push on proxy voting, reached the deal, Luna said in a social media post on Sunday.

Rather than allow proxy voting, Luna said the agreement would formalize a “pairing” system long used in Congress where one member who is physically present in the House cancels out the vote of someone who is absent. Luna said the voting option would be open to all Republicans who are unable to vote, including new parents, the bereaved and lawmakers facing various medical and family emergencies.

Although this “deal” leaves Rep. Luna’s erstwhile partner in the campaign for proxy voting Rep. Brittany Pettersen out in the cold, Rep. Pettersen was her usual diplomatic self in thanking Rep. Luna for helping raise the issue–enduring threats of retaliation from fellow Republicans, and prevailing upon President Donald Trump himself to pay lip service to the cause:

I am deeply grateful for [Rep. Luna] for championing the changes needed to ensure that moms and dads who are welcoming a new child are able to represent their constituents.

When the Speaker refused to act, she continued working to make the House a more welcoming place for families. But the reality is — this outcome does not address the barriers we’ve fought so hard to overcome.

I am extremely thankful for the outpouring of love and support from women and moms across the nation. I know you are just as disappointed as I am about this outcome, but our fight is far from over.

Although proxy voting for new parents is likely dead for the current Congress under Speaker Johnson, assembling a bipartisan majority for the discharge petition despite leadership’s objections is a win in principle that should allow for revisiting the issue in the increasingly likely event Democrats recapture the House in 2026. There’s a valid debate to be had as to whether the more expansive proxy voting privileges during the pandemic era are still appropriate, but the limited step of allowing it for new parents on leave should be a political no-brainer.

All it will take is for the “party of family values” to lose.