Republican leaders to sue Nancy Pelosi over House proxy voting system

Under new House rules, speaker can trigger 45-day 'covered period' for members to designate other members to vote for them by proxy during a national health emergency

House Republicans, led by Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, intend to sue Speaker Nancy Pelosi to block the chamber's new proxy voting system.

"It's simple: one representative should equal one vote. We can't let her get away with this," Republican Whip Steve Scalise tweeted on Tuesday, announcing the House GOP's legal plan.

House Democrats passed a voting rules package earlier this month against unanimous GOP opposition that would allow members who are not physically present at the US Capitol to designate another member to vote for them by proxy.

Designated proxy voters can vote for up to 10 members.

Ms Pelosi triggered the proxy voting system last Wednesday over lingering concerns about members travelling long distances between their districts and Washington, DC, during the coronavirus pandemic. The proxy voting system can only be invoked if the House sergeant-at-arms and attending physician determine there is a pandemic emergency and give members 24 hours of notice.

Once triggered, the proxy voting system lasts up to 45 days. Any member who wants to vote in person can do so.

Fifty-eight members, all Democrats, have submitted letters to the House clerk designating others as their proxies.

Republicans have argued that proxy voting concentrates power into the hands of leaders of the majority party and is unconstitutional.

Rank and file lawmakers from both parties grumbled during much of March and April about how being back in their home states and districts shut them out of negotiations happening mostly among party leaders and White House aides in Washington. Congress is a collegial governing body that relies heavily on face-to-face interactions and back-room dealmaking to strike legislative compromises.

Republicans have been quick to point out that the proxy voting system is unprecedented. Not even during the Civil War, the 1918 Spanish flu epidemic, or 9/11 did Congress adopt such extraordinary measures.

The Constitution requires “the presence of a majority, and when that majority are present the power of the house arises," the GOP has argued, citing the Supreme Court's 1892 decision of United States v. Ballin.

The proxy system is a "power grab" that enables Ms Pelosi to "unilaterally pass legislation with just 20 Members present," Mr Scalise tweeted, which is not entirely true.

The speaker cannot unilaterally pass legislation. Any bill or resolution up for a vote on the House floor still must garner a majority, whether members cast their votes via a proxy or in person.

Ms Pelosi dismissed the House GOP's lawsuit as a "sad stunt" intended to "delay and obstruct urgently-needed action to meet the needs of American workers and families during the coronavirus crisis."

The Supreme Court has ruled previously that the Constitution allows each chamber of Congress to establish its own procedural rules, Democrats argue.

“As our nation approaches the heartbreaking milestone of 100,000 lives lost to COVID-19, House Republicans must stop their dangerous obstruction and join Democrats to save lives, defeat the virus and grow the economy," Ms Pelosi said.

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