Many American workplaces include some kind of maternity leave policy, but Congress isn’t one of them. In U.S. history, 12 federal lawmakers have given birth during their tenures, and in each instance, they were put in a difficult situation: As The New York Times reported, these members “can take time away from the office without sacrificing their pay,” but they “cannot vote if they are not present at the Capitol.”
This is of particular interest right now because the list is poised to grow: Democratic Rep. Brittany Pettersen is scheduled to give birth in the coming weeks, and on Monday, the Colorado congresswoman conceded via social media, “Today marks the first day I am unable to fly to [Washington, D.C.] for votes due to travel restrictions ahead of my due date.”
Pettersen added, “It shouldn’t be this way.”
She’s not the only one who’s come to this conclusion. In fact, the Democratic lawmaker is championing a measure what would change congressional rules to allow proxy voting for new parents for up to 12 weeks. While the era of bipartisan policymaking sometimes seems to be a thing of the past, in this instance, seven House Republicans have joined with 34 House Democrats in support of Petterson’s reform proposal.
And why not? It’s a pro-family, apolitical idea that doesn’t cost anything. At face value, it’s seems tough to imagine why anyone would oppose such a change.
As NBC News’ Sahil Kapur reported, however, House Speaker Mike Johnson isn’t going for it. The Louisiana Republican said:
I’ve filed a brief with the United States Supreme Court asserting that proxy vote is unconstitutional. That’s been my belief as a constitutional law litigator, and I don’t see any way around that. And it’s unfortunate. I have great sympathy, empathy for all of our young women legislators who are of birthing age. It’s a real quandary. But I’m afraid it doesn’t fit with the language of the Constitution, and that’s the inescapable truth that we have.
There’s reason to believe otherwise. In fact, let’s take a stroll down memory lane.
As regular readers may recall, as the Covid crisis started taking a severe national toll five years ago, House Democratic leaders came up with a temporary fix intended to limit lawmakers’ exposure. Under the plan, lawmakers who hoped to avoid the floor of the Capitol — because they were experiencing symptoms, because someone in their household was ill, etc. — could cast votes by proxy. The system ensured that many representatives could participate in the legislative process during a pandemic without endangering themselves or their colleagues.
House Republicans, at least initially, condemned the policy as an outrageous and unconstitutional abuse, and they filed a federal lawsuit in May 2020 to challenge the legality of proxy voting. A district court rejected the litigation, concluding that it wasn’t up to the judiciary to intervene in how the legislative branch established its own procedural rules. A federal appeals court unanimously agreed and threw out the case. Making matters worse, at the same time GOP lawmakers were crying foul when Democrats created the proxy system, many Republicans also embraced the model with some enthusiasm. In fact, one GOP member ended up voting by proxy nearly 40 times. I’m referring, of course, to Mike Johnson — the same Republican who opposes allowing new parents to vote by proxy, despite his own record of having voted the same way. (Democratic Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts published a detailed social media thread, carefully dissecting Johnson’s errors of fact and judgment on the issue.) The new Congress is just getting underway, and it’s possible that the House speaker will at least consider allowing the full chamber to vote on whether to make the proposed change. In the meantime, however, Colorado’s Pettersen is at home, waiting to give birth, and eager to vote on the major issues of the day — if only her colleagues would let her.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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