Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has been vacationing in Costa Rica during one of the most consequential legislative weeks of the year
Story by bmetzger@insider.com (Bryan Metzger) •
https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/rep-marjorie-taylor-greene-has-been-vacationing-in-costa-rica-during-one-of-the-most-consequential-legislative-weeks-of-the-year/ar-AA15C2yI?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=122c78a8c7fe4156adcb988011499985
"She filed a letter with the Clerk of the House of Representatives on Monday stating that she was "unable to physically attend proceedings in the House Chamber due to the ongoing public health emergency," and designated Republican Rep. Barry Moore of Alabama to cast votes on her behalf.
Proxy voting is a pandemic-area procedure that was originally designed to allow members of Congress to avoid traveling to Washington, DC in order to minimize the risk of exposure to COVID. Since then, members of Congress have used it for all sorts of non-COVID reasons.
Nearly 200 other members of the House voted by proxy on Thursday and were also set to miss the omnibus vote on Friday, many of them likely leaving town early to avert travel delays caused by historic winter storms ahead of the holidays.
But Republicans, including Greene, have harshly criticized the practice, despite often using it themselves. Greene even introduced a bill in March of this year to eliminate the practice. "Now that COVID is over and we're back to normal life, Congresswoman Greene is ready to end proxy voting," Greene spokesman Nick Dyer told Insider in May.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has vowed to end proxy voting if he becomes Speaker of the House in January."
https://clerk.house.gov/legislative/proxy-letters/117/2/active/Greene-GA14-20221219-09.pdf