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Pelosi Statement on McConnell Comments on House Remote Voting by Proxy

May 21, 2020

Contact: Speaker's Press Office,
202-226-7616

Washington, D.C. – Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued this statement after Senate Leader McConnell disputed the constitutionality of the House's remote voting by proxy rule and suggested that the Senate may not accept bills passed under this procedure:
"Last week, the House voted to institute measures ensuring that Congress can continue to meet the needs of families and workers during the unprecedented challenge of the coronavirus, including with remote voting by proxy.
"Remote voting by proxy is fully consistent with the Constitution and more than a century of legal precedent, including Supreme Court cases, that make clear that the House can determine its own rules. As legal scholars have concluded, the ‘Constitution bestows on each House of Congress broad discretion to determine the rules for its own proceedings… This authority is expansive and would include the ability to adopt a rule to permit proxy voting.'
"Leader McConnell's comments are deliberately misleading, as proxy voting has long been used by Senate committees. Simply and sadly, he is trying to find every excuse not to meet the needs of the American people."
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