President Mike Johnson and Florida GOP representative Anna Paulina Luna, say they have concluded an agreement to end the fight against proxy vote for new parents, who will reopen the soil of the Chamber after almost a week of legislative paralysis.
The Republican leaders of the Chamber will formalize “the coupling to vote”, a procedure which allows a member who is absent during a vote to coordinate with a current member on the other side of the question to compensate for the absence, several sources familiar with the agreement told ABC News.
For example, the procedure in this case would allow a new mother, who is absent for a vote in the House, to team up with a current legislator voting in front of their position to form a “pair”.
Some logistics of this agreement remain clear, in particular how it will be applied.
The twinning of the votes – which is a rare practice at Congress – is certainly not an equivalent to a distance vote, but allows an absence of being offset. But the absent member’s vote is not recorded in the count of a recorded vote.
The voting twinning process was used in 2018 when the Senate voted to confirm the judge of the Supreme Court Brett Kavanaugh. At the time, senator Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who said she would vote against Kavanaugh, twinned her vote with Senator Steve Daines of Montana so that their votes are canceled.
The American president of the representative of the Mike Johnson (R-La) room participates in a ceremonial insurer with the representative Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) (R), her husband Andrew Gamberzky and her son at the American Capitol on January 3, 2025 in Washington, DC. The 119th congress begins its mandate on Capitol Hill today. (Photo of Alex Wong / Getty Images)
Images Alex Wong / Getty
Johnson presented the details of the agreement on a conference call for GOP members on Sunday afternoon, sources said.
In light of the agreement, sources have declared that the Luna representative would not trigger his bipartite discharge petition – which has 218 signatures – to allow mothers and fathers to vote remotely up to 12 weeks after childbirth.
“President Johnson and I have concluded an agreement and formalize a procedure entitled” Live / death pailing ” – going in the 1800s – so that the whole conference used when it is unable to be physically present to vote: new parents, bereaved, urgently,” said representative Luna in a press release on X.
Luna thanked President Donald Trump for his “support” for new mothers. “If we really want a pro-family congress, these are the changes that must occur,” she added.
It is possible for other members – including any Democrat who signed the petition – to call and force action on the measure of the Luna representative. But that would probably fail if the Republicans stick to the voting twinning agreement.
Johnson is still looking for ways to increase accessibility for new mothers to the congress, such as adding a room on the house’s floor for breastfeeding mothers, sources said.
