House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) denied a request this week from Rep. Brittany Pettersen (D-CO) to pass a bipartisan resolution allowing pregnant lawmakers to vote by proxy while indisposed for maternity care. Pettersen, whose due date prevents her from traveling to Washington, D.C., sought the resolution to ensure representation for constituents in such situations. However, Johnson rejected the proposal, citing constitutional concerns.
“I’ve filed a brief with the United States Supreme Court asserting that proxy vote is unconstitutional,” Johnson told NBC News. “That’s been my belief as a constitutional law litigator, and I don’t see any way around that… 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.”
Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) called out Johnson’s stance as hypocritical in a scathing thread on X (formerly Twitter), highlighting Johnson’s own extensive use of proxy voting in the past. “He thinks it’s so unconstitutional that he did it — not once or twice — but nearly 40 times?” McGovern wrote. He pointed out that Johnson had previously joined a lawsuit claiming proxy voting was unconstitutional but later removed his name and used proxy voting himself.
McGovern outlined several instances where Johnson used proxy voting for personal convenience, such as leaving early for recess or traveling home. “He was okay using proxy voting to give himself an early start on August recess while still casting his vote against a commonsense bill to ban assault weapons,” McGovern wrote. “He was even okay using proxy voting to leave town early while still casting his vote against marriage equality.”
McGovern further noted that courts have consistently upheld proxy voting, with Johnson’s legal challenges to the practice failing at the district, appellate, and Supreme Court levels. “He LOST! The district court dismissed the lawsuit. The Appeals Court agreed. The Supreme Court wouldn’t hear it. His view was lost. Full stop,” McGovern emphasized.
Even some Republicans criticized Johnson’s decision. Pro-Trump Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) called the denial of proxy voting for pregnant lawmakers “anti-family” and “a slap in the face to the hundreds of thousands of voters who send members to represent them in D.C.”
McGovern concluded his critique by addressing Johnson directly: “If you truly believe proxy voting is unconstitutional, then why did you do it? Which do you not take seriously — your belief that proxy voting is unconstitutional? Or your oath to uphold the Constitution?”