WASHINGTON — House majority leader Steny Hoyer has formally introduced a pair of rules changes designed to revive congressional action in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic that has left Congress sputtering for the past two months.
Hoyer said Wednesday that his resolution, drafted after bipartisan negotiations with GOP leaders, will allow lawmakers to cast their votes from afar if they cannot be present in the Capitol for ‘‘reasons beyond our control’’ related to the virus. Those lawmakers would designate their proxy to a present lawmaker.
The proposal would also empower committees to formally hold hearings through technology, both as a hybrid in which some members are present in hearing rooms and others appear via video, and some that will be done entirely by remote video conferencing.
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‘‘That one big step is to make sure Congress can act,’’ Hoyer said Wednesday morning in an interview, before formally introducing the resolution in a brief House session.
He noted that the Senate was already using hybrid hearings, pointing to Tuesday’s high-profile appearance of federal health experts all appearing by video, and also highlighted this month’s oral arguments of the Supreme Court that, for the first time, have been conducted entirely by conference calls as the audio is aired live on C-Span.
The House is expected to approve the measure during Friday’s session, in which Democrats also hope to pass a $3 trillion rescue package for the health and economic crises resulting from the pandemic. Republicans have been largely opposed to the concept of proxy voting, so the vote will likely be on party lines, but Hoyer said that he incorporated several ideas from House minority leader Kevin McCarthy during negotiations over the last few weeks.
Still, two hours after Hoyer unveiled the proposal, McCarthy issued a scathing statement calling it a power grab by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
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‘‘The Democrats’ proposal calls for the House of Representatives to abandon ship — potentially for the remainder of the session,’’ McCarthy said. ‘‘As we have said from the start, any change to centuries-old rules of the House should only be done in a bipartisan way that achieves consensus. This proposal fails that critical test and would forever alter our democratic institution for the worse.’’
Under the proposed change, lawmakers not attending will have to provide a written declaration of both how they intend to vote and which of their colleagues will cast their proxy vote — and no member of the House can carry more than 10 proxy votes for other lawmakers.
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May 14, 2020 at 04:17AM
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Democrats unveil historic rule change to allow remote voting in Congress during pandemic - The Boston Globe
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