Speaker Johnson shuts down House to avoid bid to allow proxy voting for new parents

House Speaker Mike Johnson canceled votes Tuesday for the rest of the week after he failed to stop renegade Republicans from forcing a vote to restore proxy voting in the chamber.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna’s measure to allow lawmakers who are new parents to vote by proxy survived a procedural vote to quash it, led by Mr. Johnson. Nine Republicans and all House Democrats voted against the rule that would have sidelined the proxy voting resolution.

It was the first time this Congress that Mr. Johnson, Louisiana Republican, was defeated in a rule vote. The speaker quickly canceled the remaining votes for the week, sending lawmakers home.

Ms. Luna, Florida Republican, wants to bring back proxy voting that was criticized by the GOP when Democrats adopted it during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ms. Luna’s resolution, however, would reserve proxy voting for new mothers or fathers while they care for a newborn for up to 12 weeks.

She could have forced a vote this week if the House had remained in session. GOP leaders will have to hold a vote within two legislative days if they don’t find another way to head her off.

Mr. Johnson said proxy voting is unconstitutional, and warned of a Pandora’s Box of complications that could arise if the effort was successful.

The canceled votes included a pair of bills that would have undone Biden-era regulations on overdraft charges and payment apps, a bill that would have required proof of citizenship when registering to vote and legislation that would have limited district court judges’ ability to order nationwide injunctions against President Trump’s agenda. 

“All that was just wiped off the table,” the speaker said. “It’s very unfortunate.”

Ms. Luna said she had “exhausted all tools” to bring her resolution to the floor during her two-year push to allow proxy voting for new parents.

“If we don’t do the right thing now, it will never be done,” Ms. Luna said.

Rep. Brittany Pettersen, who co-authored the proxy voting resolution, said on the House floor while holding her newborn son that “we have a long way to go to make this place accessible for young families like mine.” She said Republican leaders’ push to kill the discharge petition is “anti-woman, it is anti-family.”

“It is unfathomable that in 2025 we have not modernized Congress to address these unique challenges that members face,” the Colorado Democrat said.

The Republicans siding with Ms. Luna were Reps. Tim Burchett of Tennessee, Max Miller of Ohio, Nick LaLota of New York, Mike Lawler of New York, Kevin Kiley of California, Greg Steube of Florida, Ryan Mackenzie of Pennsylvania and Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey.

Mr. Van Drew said allowing proxy voting for expecting parents was the “most pro-woman, pro-life, pro-child, pro-family” move lawmakers could make. 

The fight for proxy voting has also pitted Ms. Luna against the House Freedom Caucus, which she formally quit on Monday.

In a letter announcing her exit, she said a handful of Freedom Caucus members banded together to try to kill her petition to force a vote on the resolution. She said they were guilty of the “very behavior we have long condemned” leadership used to shut out the group’s legislation.