President Donald Trump backed an effort Thursday to allow remote voting by House lawmakers who are new parents, directly inserting himself into a Republican dispute that brought legislative business to a halt this week.
The push for remote voting is being led in part by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., who has clashed with Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., over his opposition to the measure.
Asked where he stands on the matter, Trump sided with Luna.
“If you’re having a baby, I think you should be able to call in and vote. I’m in favor of that,” Trump told reporters Thursday afternoon on Air Force One. "I don't know why it's controversial."
Trump said he spoke with Luna on Wednesday, adding that while he understands the perspective of those against the proposed rule change, he agrees with her and others who feel "strongly about it."
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Luna said Wednesday night on Newsmax that Trump had assured her "that this would get resolved."
Trump's support for the proposal puts him at direct odds with Johnson, who has called proxy voting unconstitutional. He tried this week to stymie Luna's effort to force a vote on a proxy voting measure.
While Trump said Thursday that he would ultimately defer to Johnson, his public backing of Luna could further drive support for the effort after Johnson previously discouraged rank-and-file Republicans from supporting the proxy voting push.
Following Trump’s comments, Luna said on X that Johnson had just called her and proposed limiting her proxy voting measure “to just new moms who cannot physically travel in event of emergency," an idea she called "smart."
A representative for Johnson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In a now-deleted post on X, Johnson indicated Thursday night that Luna could be endangering the Republican agenda after House floor proceedings stalled this week.
Luna indicated earlier Thursday evening that Trump's support would help get her measure across the finish line.
"I’m confident that with President Trump’s support, my proxy voting resolution will pass and new moms and dads in Congress will be able to vote for the America First agenda we promised," she said on X. "Thank you to the Members of Congress who stood with me when it wasn’t easy."
Nine Republicans in the House joined Democrats in blocking the House GOP from advancing a package of bills Tuesday after Johnson included language that would kill the proxy-voting push.
Luna had tried to force a floor vote on the resolution through a discharge petition, a procedural tool that allows any House member who gathers 218 signatures to bring a measure to the floor. She reached that threshold, signaling bipartisan support from the majority of House members.
Johnson committed Wednesday to redouble his efforts to block the remote voting push from succeeding.
“I don’t concede on something that I believe to be unconstitutional. I can’t,” Johnson said. “I took an oath to uphold the Constitution. So we’re going to find a path through this.”
Johnson has signaled an interest in accommodations for new parents, including a room for nursing mothers.
Luna gave notice Tuesday of her intention to call a floor vote. If the House has votes Monday and Tuesday, as planned, Johnson must allow the bill to come to the floor for a vote by Tuesday unless he can think of another procedural mechanism to subvert it.
The measure, sponsored in part by Luna and Rep. Brittany Pettersen, D-Colo., would allow new parents to vote by proxy for 12 weeks following the birth of a child and would also allow pregnant lawmakers to vote by proxy if doctors determine they cannot travel safely.
A similar bill was introduced last year after Luna was told she could not vote following the birth of her child in August 2023 if she didn't travel to Washington.
Republicans have fiercely opposed proxy voting since the Covid pandemic, when then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., authorized the practice as a safety precaution. Republicans for years accused members of taking advantage of the rule change. Kevin McCarthy, of California, the House Republican leader at the time, challenged the practice in court.
Johnson said in January that he, too, filed a brief with the Supreme Court asserting that proxy voting is unconstitutional.
