House Republicans will sue Democrats to block a plan to permit proxy voting on the House floor, aides to Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy announced Tuesday.
“Giving your vote as a member of Congress to another person is just simply not allowed and not envisioned in the Constitution,” House GOP leadership aides said Tuesday.
Republicans plan to file the lawsuit in federal court Tuesday. The House plans to begin proxy voting on Wednesday. More than 50 Democrats have indicated they plan to use a proxy to vote for them this week.
Republicans have named as defendants in the case Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat who pushed the rules change through the House with only Democratic votes earlier this month. Republicans have also named House Clerk Cheryl Johnson and Sergeant-at-Arms Paul D. Irving.
The McCarthy aides said the rules change permitting a quorum to include proxy voters also violates the Constitution and will be challenged in the lawsuit.
Under the rules change ushered in by Democrats, a lawmaker present in the chamber can vote for up to 10 absent lawmakers. The change was made in response to the coronavirus outbreak, which discourages large gathering and nonessential travel.
Under the new rule, the absent lawmakers who vote by proxy can be counted toward a quorum, which typically requires a majority to be present in the chamber.
Plaintiffs in the case include House Republicans as well as four constituents “pulled from different districts across the country,” the aide said.
McCarthy aides said they do not expect the lawsuit to block proxy voting this week.
“I don’t think it’s realistic for the court to adjudicate it that quickly,” another lawyer representing the GOP said.
The lawyers said any House-passed bill “would have significant constitutional questions.”
