Hoyer calls for expanding remote voting and committee work during pandemic

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) on Tuesday called for finding ways to conduct committee work remotely during the coronavirus pandemic in addition to temporarily changing the chamber’s rules to allow a form of casting floor votes from afar.

In a letter to the leaders of the Rules and House Administration committees, Hoyer said that a plan to vote on changing the rules to allow proxy voting — which would let absent members authorize members physically present in the House chamber to cast votes on their behalf — is only a “first step.”

Hoyer called for going beyond establishing an alternative for in-person floor voting and finding ways for the House to resume committee hearings and markups on legislation with video-conferencing technology.

“We must put in place procedures to allow committees to do their work in full, including markup and hearings,” Hoyer wrote in the letter to House Rules Committee Chairman Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) and House Administration Committee Chairwoman Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.).

The proposed change to allow proxy voting for bills on the House floor would affect just one part of the chamber’s functions. Lawmakers have been effectively sidelined, unable to conduct regular business that typically involves congregating in large groups for most of the past month due to the pandemic.

“The House must show the American people that we continue to work hard on their behalf — because we already are,” Hoyer wrote. “Enabling the House to work remotely, when necessitated by an emergency situation as determined by the Speaker in consultation with the Minority Leader, will make it clear to those we serve that their representatives are doing their part in this crisis. It will also ensure that the House can conduct its oversight of the Administration’s relief efforts properly and fully.”

Without being able to hold official hearings in person, committees have held tele-briefings with administration officials over the past several weeks as a way to continue oversight. But rank-and-file lawmakers have been calling for ways to allow for regular committee hearings and markups of legislation that are open to public viewing.

Hoyer also noted Tuesday that he would prefer a method of remote floor voting that uses video technology so that members could cast votes themselves without relying on proxies.

“While any distance-voting is less optimal than in-person voting or debating in committee or on the floor of the House, the sound and image of the member doing so virtually is far superior to the utilization of proxies,” Hoyer wrote.

McGovern last week argued that proxy voting would be easier to implement because “it doesn’t rely on some new technology being stood up and vigorously tested.”

The House is expected to vote as soon as Thursday on changing the rules to allow for proxy voting during the pandemic so that not all members have to travel to Washington, D.C., and risk contagion to themselves or others.

The House is also slated to vote Thursday on an interim coronavirus relief package to renew funding for a small-business loan program and provide funds for hospitals, assuming that the legislation passes the Senate before then.

Hoyer noted during a conference call with reporters Tuesday that a number of lawmakers are reluctant to travel to the Capitol because of their own preexisting health conditions or fears that they could expose family members with health issues to the virus.

“There are some members who are particularly vulnerable to either themselves because of some preexisting condition or they’re caring for relatives, moms or dads, or others, and they are concerned about coming and then having to quarantine themselves for 14 days when they get back. So that’s a real concern,” Hoyer said.

Hoyer said that House leaders are asking all members to return to the Capitol on Thursday if they are able. He estimated that more than half the 232-member Democratic caucus will be present.

It’s unclear whether House Republicans will back the proxy voting proposal, as many are reluctant to make significant rules changes.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) wrote a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Tuesday calling for a “clear, safe and effective plan for reopening Congress.”

McCarthy asked for details of the proxy voting proposal and questioned how it would “avoid potential abuses of power.”

“In my view, conducting the business of the People’s House is the definition of ‘essential work’ — just as many of our friends and neighbors continue working to hold up our communities on a daily basis,” McCarthy wrote.