Speaker Johnson has long claimed to be a pro-family champion. However, his recent actions to stymie efforts to allow U.S. Representatives who are new parents to vote by proxy after welcoming a child are anything but pro-family.
The Proxy Voting for New Parents Resolution was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Reps. Brittany Pettersen (D-CO) and Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), two of just 13 moms who have ever given birth while in office, along with Reps. Sara Jacobs (D-CA) and Mike Lawler (R-NY). The bipartisan resolution (H.Res.23) would have allowed House members to deputize another member to vote on their behalf for up to twelve weeks following the birth of their child. For those who are pregnant, some of the 12 weeks could have been used prior to giving birth if they are unable to travel due to pregnancy.
In a time when bipartisan solutions are often hard to come by, this effort to make Congress more family friendly has strong bipartisan support. Nine Republicans, plus a majority of Democrats, cosponsored the resolution. When Speaker Johnson refused to bring the resolution to the floor for a vote, twelve Republicans joined a majority of Democrats in signing a discharge petition to force a vote. And when Speaker Johnson tried to slip a provision into an unrelated measure that would have permanently killed the resolution for the rest of this session of Congress, nine Republicans and all Democrats voted down that measure.
The Speaker’s extreme and unprecedented measures to shut down efforts to bring the proxy voting resolution to the floor expose his unwillingness to support policies that truly help working families. His position is also deeply unpopular. Paid Leave for All, a national campaign of organizations advocating for paid family and medical leave for all working people, released results from their recent rapid message test that showed hearing even a short message about Johnson’s actions to block proxy voting dramatically increased support for proxy voting by up to 23 points.
Speaker Johnson’s arguments against proxy voting, as well as his proposed solutions for new parents, were nonsensical. Speaker Johnson has argued that proxy voting is unconstitutional, but in July 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia dismissed Former House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s lawsuit against Former Speaker Pelosi that alleged proxy voting was unconstitutional. In January 2022, the Supreme Court denied Minority Leader McCarthy’s lawsuit, ending the federal constitutional challenge to proxy voting. These attacks failed because of centuries of broad deference to Congress to establish its own rules. However, extreme attacks on proxy voting that ignore centuries of precedent, as seen in Texas, continue and could cost workers the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act and the PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act, pro-family bills that are crucial to supporting expecting and new mothers at work. Senate Republican Leader McConnell even filed an amicus brief to the Texas case supporting the right of Congress to determine its own rules, including utilizing proxy voting.
After this public battle, Johnson is now attempting to rebuild his false pro-family narrative by proposing alternatives that do not address the underlying issue. Johnson’s plans include lactation rooms close to the House floor and exploring the use of a member’s office budget for travel for mothers with young children. Breastfeeding rooms were added in the Capitol by Speaker Nancy Pelosi in 2007 and infants already fly free. Additionally, health experts do not recommend infants travel by air for the first few weeks (or months, according to some) after birth. Beyond these facts, lactation rooms or increased travel allowances are not a substitute for proxy voting.
This proxy voting challenge is not the first time Republicans have taken hypocritical actions against pro-family policies. In 2022, every Republican in the House voted against the Build Back Better Act, which would have guaranteed paid family and medical leave for all working people and made the largest investment in child care in the nation’s history, among other things. In August 2024, Senate Republicans blocked a bipartisan bill that would have expanded the Child Tax Credit, a measure that cuts child poverty and provides needed financial support to multi-child households. In September 2024, Senate Republicans blocked the Right to IVF Act for the second time, which would establish a right and increase access to in vitro fertilization (IVF) and other assisted reproductive technology (ART). And Republicans just passed a budget that would require massive cuts to programs like Medicaid and SNAP that are critical for working families.
Congress still has significant barriers to women and young parents who want to represent and serve their communities. Rep. Pettersen is only the 13th voting member of Congress to give birth while serving their term. She voted against the House budget bill with her four-week-old son in her arms because proxy voting is not currently allowed. If Congress is more accessible to parents, the composition of the representing body might change to better reflect the composition of the United States.
While members of Congress still get paid whether or not they vote by proxy, 73 percent of workers do not have paid family leave through an employer to care for a new child or a loved one with a serious health condition. This means that millions of families are forced to choose between caring for their loved ones and their paycheck, putting their jobs, financial stability, and health at risk. All working people deserve access to paid family and medical leave.
On April 7, Johnson and Rep. Luna cut a deal to end the proxy voting fight and formalize vote pairing, an 1800s procedure where an absent lawmaker pairs with a present member with the opposing stance on a vote. The present member withholds their vote, cancelling out the absent member’s vote. As Reps. Pettersen and Jacobs discussed in their statements, vote pairing is not an equivalent to proxy voting, does not eliminate the barriers to full legislative participation for new parents, and many think it is likely unworkable. We hope that members of Congress will continue to fight for proxy voting for new parents, and for paid leave for all working people.
