{"id":2353182,"date":"2024-10-10T12:30:01","date_gmt":"2024-10-10T16:30:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/texas-asks-court-to-invalidate-us-spending-bill-because-of-proxy-voting-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2024-10-10T12:31:42","modified_gmt":"2024-10-10T16:31:42","slug":"texas-asks-court-to-invalidate-us-spending-bill-because-of-proxy-voting-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/texas-asks-court-to-invalidate-us-spending-bill-because-of-proxy-voting-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas asks court to invalidate US spending bill because of proxy voting &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftexas-asks-court-to-invalidate-us-spending-bill-because-of-proxy-voting-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2353182&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Texas Attorney\u2062 General Ken Paxton is urging \u2063an appeals court \u200cto \u2063invalidate a provision of \u200ca $1.7 trillion federal\u2063 spending bill,\u2062 asserting that the House of\u2064 Representatives violated the U.S. Constitution \u2062by using proxy voting \u2064to pass the measure in 2022. Paxton argues \u2062that the U.S. \u20625th Circuit Court of Appeals should uphold a \u2064lower court\u200d ruling that\u200c there was no quorum \u2064present when the bill was\u200c passed, \u200das only 201 lawmakers voted in person while others voted remotely. The lawsuit, initially filed against\u200b Attorney General Merrick Garland, contends \u2062that Texas should not be bound by the\u2064 Pregnant \u2064Workers Fairness \u2063Act\u200c included in the spending bill, which mandates accommodations for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/lubbock-becomes-largest-city-in-u-s-to-outlaw-abortion\/\" title=\"Lubbock Becomes Largest City In U.S. To Outlaw Abortion\">women seeking abortions<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The\u200b controversy stems \u200dfrom \u2062former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi&#8217;s\u2062 decision \u2064to \u2064allow proxy \u2063voting due to COVID-19, a practice that critics claim\u200d was exploited by lawmakers to avoid being physically present for\u200c votes. Paxton&#8217;s\u200b brief highlights historical precedent, arguing that legislative bodies must have physical \u2062presence to establish a quorum, asserting that this is essential for democratic processes. The final outcome of this case could impact not \u200donly the enforcement\u2062 of the Pregnant \u2064Workers Fairness Act\u200b but also the legitimacy of the \u2062omnibus \u2063spending bill itself.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Texas asks court to invalidate US spending bill because of proxy voting<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1537406\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/texas\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Texas\">Texas<\/a> Attorney General <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/ken-paxton\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Ken Paxton<\/a> is urging an appeals court to stop the federal government from enforcing a provision of a $1.<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/lawmakers-negotiating-over-7500-pork-barrel-spending-earmarks-totaling-16-billion-for-spending-bill\/\" title=\"Lawmakers Negotiating Over 7,500 &quot;Pork-Barrel Spending&quot; Earmarks Totaling  Billion for Spending Bill\">7 trillion government spending bill<\/a>, arguing that the House violated the U.S. Constitution when it relied on proxy voting to pass the measure in 2022.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>Paxton wrote in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scribd.com\/document\/778479592\/Texas-brief?secret_password=YiLEuBGA16mtgeuHOg2P\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>brief<\/a> filed Wednesday night that the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals should affirm a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/justice-alito-moves-up-deadline-for-supreme-court-briefing-in-pennsylvania-lawsuit-to-flip-the-election\/\" title=\"Justice Alito Moves Up Deadline For Supreme Court Briefing in Pennsylvania Lawsuit to Flip the Election\">lower court&#038;rsquo<\/a>;s decision that a quorum was not present for the bill&rsquo;s passage.<\/p>\n<p>The Texas attorney general, a Republican, first brought the lawsuit in February 2023 against Attorney General Merrick Garland, claiming Texas should not be forced to follow the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which was passed as part of the omnibus spending bill and would require employers to provide time off and other accommodations for women seeking abortions.<\/p>\n<p>Judge James Wesley Hendrix, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, agreed with Paxton&rsquo;s assessment that the bill&rsquo;s passage was a violation of the Constitution&rsquo;s quorum clause because only 201 House lawmakers were physically on Capitol Hill to cast a vote. More than half of the House, 226 members, voted remotely on the bill.<\/p>\n<p>Garland has appealed the ruling before the 5th Circuit, a conservative appellate court whose decision in the case could upend the omnibus bill, causing ramifications beyond terminating enforcement of the PWFA, should the court agree with Paxton.<\/p>\n<p>The case is a consequence of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi&rsquo;s (D-CA) liberal allowance of proxy voting, which she permitted beginning in May 2020, citing COVID-19. The practice allowed House lawmakers to vote remotely instead of on Capitol Hill.<\/p>\n<p>However, even as in-person work resumed across the country, Pelosi allowed proxy voting as an option through the end of her term as speaker in December 2022. By that point, lawmakers from both parties were openly&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/politics\/2022\/12\/23\/pelosis-swan-song-majority-of-congress-votes-remotely-by-proxy-for-1-7-trillion-spending-bill\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">abusing<\/a>&nbsp;it, though a study at the time found Democrats used it far more than Republicans.<\/p>\n<p>The practice was a source of controversy as House lawmakers routinely skipped out on voting in person in Washington to stay in their hometowns despite not being sick. In a form they were required to fill out each time they voted remotely, they would cite the &ldquo;ongoing health emergency.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Scrutiny over the practice reached a peak right before the holidays in 2022, when more than half of House lawmakers voted remotely on the omnibus bill.<\/p>\n<p>Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who was House minority leader in December 2022, blasted the overwhelming number of Congress members who were absent from the Hill the day of the omnibus vote, saying that failing to show up for a massive spending bill vote would &ldquo;forever stain this Congress.&rdquo; Other Republicans raged about the lack of quorum, which they said required their colleagues to be physically present.<\/p>\n<p>Then-Rules Committee ranking member Tom Cole (R-OK) observed that &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mitch-mcconnell-defends-houses-proxy-voting-practice-in-lawsuit-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"Mitch McConnell defends House\u2019s proxy voting practice in lawsuit - Washington Examiner\">magically proxy voting doubles<\/a> on Fridays.&rdquo; Former Wisconsin GOP Rep. Mike Gallagher said that &ldquo;the over, overwhelming majority of members proxy voting are lying&rdquo; on their proxy voting forms.<\/p>\n<p>Paxton argued in his brief that Congress never permitted absent members &ldquo;to count towards a quorum despite&rdquo; wars, new technologies from the telegraph to phones and email, and other global health crises.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;To the contrary, history shows that &lsquo;the physical presence of members of a body to approve legislation is the very essence of a democratic body,&#8217;&rdquo; Paxton wrote, adding that the absence of that would be &ldquo;legislation without representation.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Department of Justice attorneys criticized the lower court&rsquo;s ruling, saying it was out of line to interfere in House proceedings.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/federal-appeals-court-hands-texas-a-major-border-win-over-the-biden-administration\/\" title=\"Federal Appeals Court Hands Texas a Major Border Win Over the Biden Administration\">district court&#038;rsquo<\/a>;s holding is a remarkable intrusion into the internal proceedings of a coordinate branch of government and it has no basis in the Quorum Clause&rsquo;s text, history, or purpose,&rdquo; the attorneys wrote.<\/p>\n<p>Several interested parties have also submitted amicus briefs in the case, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).<\/p>\n<p>McConnell, whose brief was authored by former Attorney General Bill Barr and other lawyers, argued in support of the DOJ, saying that the lower court undermined congressional authority by delegitimizing Congress&rsquo;s passage of the spending bill.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a><\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;There are good reasons to criticize proxy voting, and particularly good reasons to have criticized the use of proxy voting in December 2022,&rdquo; the lawyers wrote. &ldquo;But not every principled disagreement has a remedy in court.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Paxton and the DOJ have asked the appellate court to hear oral arguments as the next step in the case.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1537406\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1537406\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Texas AG Paxton seeks to void $1.7T spending bill over proxy voting<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":2353186,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/ap-ken-paxton-texas-ag-092724.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[4733,42729,38422,3694,42730],"class_list":["post-2353182","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner","tag-court","tag-invalidation","tag-proxy-voting","tag-texas","tag-us-spending-bill"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/ap-ken-paxton-texas-ag-092724.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2353182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/49"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2353182"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2353182\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2353186"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2353182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2353182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2353182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}