Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) has ramped up her feud with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) over his refusal to support a proxy voting bill for new parents in Congress. Luna threatened to hold up all House business until Johnson agrees to make a deal on the issue.
The bill, introduced by Democratic Rep. Brittany Pettersen (D-Colo.), aims to allow new parents in Congress to vote by proxy for up to 12 weeks after giving birth. Pettersen, who gave birth to a son in January, has been bringing him to the House floor during votes to highlight the need for remote voting. The bill was co-sponsored by Luna, along with Reps. Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.) and Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), and would also allow proxy voting for parents before birth if there are medical concerns.
However, during a closed-door meeting on Tuesday, Johnson urged Republicans not to back Luna’s bill. He argued that while he wants to support young parents, he believes proxy voting is unconstitutional. This is a stance Johnson has held before.
In response, Luna, who strongly supports former President Donald Trump, took to social media to call out Johnson. She pointed out that Johnson had voted by proxy himself during the COVID-19 emergency period when proxy voting was allowed.
“.@SpeakerJohnson is a kind man and his heart is in the right spot but he’s wrong on proxy voting for new parents,” Luna wrote on X. “Here are some documents showing him voting by proxy in the 117th Congress, as late as December 2022! He argues it’s ‘unconstitutional’ but has done it several times. Since the case is being made to the public via press, I’m going to do the same.”
Luna then warned reporters that she might hold up all House work until an agreement is made.
“If people want to do that, then, you know, you have a two-seat majority, so good luck passing anything. If they want to play hardball, let’s play f—— hardball,” Luna said.
