Dems and GOP team up to bypass Mike Johnson again
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Rep. Anna Paulina Luna holding her son in the House chamber on Jan. 3. Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
House Democrats and Republicans are teaming up for a third time in a year to try to bypass House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on forcing a House vote without his sign-off.
Why it matters: This issue — allowing House members who recently had children to vote by proxy — is politically thorny, with Johnson positioning himself firmly against allowing any form of proxy voting.
- The GOP House speaker, who helped lead a GOP lawsuit against COVID-era proxy voting, has argued the practice is "unconstitutional" in all cases.
- Reps. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) and Brittany Pettersen (D-Colo.), both new mothers who have missed months of votes after giving birth, have continued to argue that a narrow carveout is warranted.
- Their proposed change to House rules would allow House members who are new parents to vote by proxy for up to 12 weeks.
Driving the news: Luna, who gave birth in 2023, filed what is known as a discharge petition yesterday to force a vote on the proxy voting rule change. It has since accrued over 90 signatures.
- A half dozen of those are from Republicans: Luna and Reps. Michael Rulli (R-Ohio), Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) and Byron Donalds (R-Fla.).
- If most House Democrats sign onto the petition, it will be able to reach the 218 signatures needed to force a vote without Johnson's go-ahead.
What we're hearing: Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.) spoke on behalf of the discharge petition in a closed-door House Democratic caucus meeting Tuesday morning, according to two members who were present.
- Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vt.) told Axios that "most" Democrats are supporting the petition and that the only reason it hasn't hit 218 signatures yet is because "the line was so long yesterday" to sign on.
- "I think we're going to get everyone on today," she added.
Zoom out: Discharge petitions — once rare procedural devices — are becoming increasingly common. Two have succeeded in forcing votes in the last year.
- Last May, 189 Democrats and 29 Republicans signed onto a discharge petition to force a vote on Rep. Greg Steube's (R-Fla.) bill to provide tax relief to victims of natural disasters.
- Then in September, 171 Democrats and 47 Republicans bypassed Johnson on a bill to expand Social Security benefits to retirees who receive certain government pensions.
- Before 2024, the last time a discharge petition succeeded in actually forcing a vote was in 2015.
