House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries would support proxy voting for expectant mothers and new parents when Democrats retake control of the chamber in January, he said in a news conference Thursday.
Jeffries did not offer specifics about the possible rule change, but it would mark a shift from Republican leaders who blocked attempts by members in their own party to be more accommodating of pregnant lawmakers.
Last year, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Florida) led a bipartisan push to allow parents to vote remotely for 12 weeks after birth. Speaker Mike Johnson called proxy voting “unconstitutional.”
The last time Democrats controlled the House, they allowed members to vote on each other’s behalf during the pandemic. Kevin McCarthy and Republicans unsuccessfully sued to block the rule change and then rolled it back after they took the House in 2023.
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While Jeffries did not get into specifics, he shouted out the leadership of Rep. Brittany Pettersen (D-Colorado), who previously has pushed to allow expectant and new parents to vote remotely. She recently supported a three-month proxy voting allowance that could begin before childbirth for pregnant lawmakers who have complications or aren’t able to travel close to their due date.
Congress is a difficult workplace for anyone seeking to start a family, The Sun recently reported. Mothers of young children are underrepresented on Capitol Hill, though Rep. Hillary Scholten (D-Michigan) recently noted in a social media post that with January’s new members, “We are adding over two dozen new Congressmamas to the HOUSE.”
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