{"id":2355858,"date":"2024-10-16T17:56:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-16T21:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/house-republicans-fire-shots-at-mcconnell-in-court-fight-over-proxy-voting-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2024-10-16T17:59:03","modified_gmt":"2024-10-16T21:59:03","slug":"house-republicans-fire-shots-at-mcconnell-in-court-fight-over-proxy-voting-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/house-republicans-fire-shots-at-mcconnell-in-court-fight-over-proxy-voting-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"House Republicans fire shots at McConnell in court fight over 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=\"&quot;\"><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%2Fhouse-republicans-fire-shots-at-mcconnell-in-court-fight-over-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=2355858&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>In a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/liquor-company-asks-consumers-not-to-buy-its-rittenhouse-rye-brand-to-celebrate-kyle-rittenhouse-verdict\/\" title=\"Liquor Company Asks Consumers Not to Buy Its \u2018Rittenhouse Rye\u2019 Brand To Celebrate Kyle Rittenhouse Verdict\">recent court case<\/a>, ten House Republicans, led\u200b by Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX),\u200c argued that the House&#8217;s proxy voting rules\u200c enacted during the pandemic are unconstitutional. They directed their critiques\u200d towards Senate\u2062 Minority Leader Mitch\u200c McConnell (R-KY), accusing\u200c him of inconsistencies in his stance on the issue. This <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-apprentice-movie-investor-furious-over-portrayal-of-trump-report\/\" title=\"Movie Investor Upset by Depiction of Trump in &#039;The Apprentice&#039;: Report\">legal dispute arises<\/a> from the concern over whether a\u2062 quorum was present when the House voted on a significant $1.7 trillion omnibus spending \u2063bill, with earlier rulings favoring\u200d Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton&#8217;s claims that a quorum was lacking.<\/p>\n<p>The House&#8217;s proxy\u200d voting, which allows representatives to vote remotely due to health concerns, has become contentious as lawmakers have been seen misusing this option without <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/campaign-finance-addition-to-bill-irks-senate-democrats\/\" title=\"Senate Democrats are displeased with the inclusion of campaign finance provisions in the bill\">legitimate health reasons<\/a>. While\u200d McConnell\u2064 has expressed opposition to proxy voting\u200d in the\u2064 past, he recently argued that the courts should\u2064 not intervene in this matter\u2014a stance that contradicts his previous warnings about its \u2062constitutional implications. \u200bThis case is currently being \u200cconsidered by the conservative 5th U.S. Circuit\u200b Court of \u200bAppeals, as it could have wide-reaching effects on legislative procedures and the validity of actions taken without a full quorum.  <\/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\">House Republicans fire shots at McConnell in court fight over 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_1836768\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>Ten House Republicans, led by Rep. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/chip-roy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Chip Roy<\/a> (R-TX), argued on Wednesday to an appellate court that the House&rsquo;s pandemic-era proxy voting rules were unconstitutional and pointedly accused Senate Minority Leader <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/mitch-mcconnell\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Mitch McConnell<\/a> (R-KY) of flip-flopping his position on them.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>The lawmakers made the arguments in an amicus brief, authored by Mountain States Legal Foundation attorneys, after McConnell submitted his own brief in a case that could <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/3184101\/texas-asks-court-invalidate-us-spending-bill-proxy-voting\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>upend<\/a> a $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill that Congress passed in December 2022.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;<em>Amici<\/em> are especially concerned that other members of Congress, such as Senate Minority Leader McConnell, have urged this Court to essentially hold that even the most abusive of legislative procedures is immune from judicial review,&rdquo; the attorneys wrote.<\/p>\n<p>The case, which is making its way through the conservative 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, centers on the question of whether a quorum was present when more than half of the House voted by proxy on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/congress-passes-massive-covid-relief-omnibus-bill-sending-billions-of-dollars-to-foreign-countries-measure-heads-to-president-trumps-desk\/\" title=\"Congress Passes Massive Covid Relief\/Omnibus Bill Sending Billions of Dollars to Foreign Countries \u2013 Measure Heads to President Trump\u2019s Desk\">omnibus bill<\/a>. A lower court previously ruled in favor of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and against the Department of Justice, finding that a quorum was not present. The DOJ has appealed the ruling.<\/p>\n<p>McConnell sided with the DOJ, saying in an amicus brief in August that while he strongly opposed the practice of proxy voting, he did not think the courts should have a say over it.<\/p>\n<p>In 2020, however, McConnell conveyed a different perspective when he warned former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) of the constitutional dilemma that her <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pelosi-extends-proxy-voting-policy-that-republicans-sued-her-over-last-year\/\" title=\"Pelosi Extends Proxy Voting Policy That Republicans Sued Her Over Last Year\">proxy voting policy<\/a> could present.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;There will be enormous constitutional questions around anything the House does if they fail to demonstrate a real quorum but plow ahead anyhow,&rdquo; McConnell <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2020\/05\/21\/mitch-mcconnell-democrats-proxy-voting-273615\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>said<\/a> in a floor speech at the time.<\/p>\n<p>Roy, in what marked the Texas Republican&rsquo;s second amicus brief in the case, highlighted McConnell&rsquo;s remark.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;His comments reflected a clear appreciation for the House&rsquo;s constitutional duty to assemble a majority of its Members within the halls of Congress before conducting the People&rsquo;s business. Yet now, Senator McConnell has changed his tune,&rdquo; attorneys for Roy and the other lawmakers wrote.<\/p>\n<p>Pelosi authorized proxy voting in 2020 in the name of COVID-19, effectively allowing lawmakers to vote remotely instead of in Washington, D.C., as long as they signed a form that cited the &ldquo;ongoing health emergency.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The practice began drawing controversy as lawmakers from both parties openly abused the option, often appearing with no illness in their homes, on the campaign trail, or on vacation while casting House votes by proxy. Less than halfway through 2022, former Rep. Kai Kahele, a Hawaii Democrat, was found by Hawaii Public Radio to have voted by proxy on all but five of 125 votes that had been cast in the House. He later defended his absence from Capitol Hill, saying he was worried about getting sick or spreading the virus to his family.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Former House Rules Committee ranking member Tom Cole (R-OK) observed in 2022 that &ldquo;magically proxy voting doubles on Fridays.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, called the final omnibus vote, in which 226 members voted remotely, a &ldquo;stain&rdquo; on Congress. McCarthy ended the proxy voting option when he took over the speaker&rsquo;s gavel.<\/p>\n<p><em>Read the amicus brief below:<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"scribd_iframe_embed\" title=\"Amicus brief Texas\" src=\"https:\/\/www.scribd.com\/embeds\/780817949\/content?start_page=1&amp;view_mode=scroll&amp;access_key=key-62AA5HydvYdR2jijVjTP\" tabindex=\"0\" data-auto-height=\"true\" data-aspect-ratio=\"0.7729220222793488\" scrolling=\"no\" width=\"100%\" height=\"600\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe> <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_1836768\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1836768\"}});<\/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>House Republicans criticize McConnell over proxy voting rules<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":2355859,"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\/chip-roy-.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[43167,32920,5194,38422,32076],"class_list":["post-2355858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-court-fight","tag-house-republicans","tag-mcconnell","tag-proxy-voting","tag-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/chip-roy-.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2355858","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=2355858"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2355858\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2355859"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2355858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2355858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2355858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}