Indeed, took some flack for calling it out..kek.
'I see a lot of dangers': GOP leaders oppose measure to allow proxy voting
Republicans are opposed to a plan by House Democrats to pass a historic change to the rules of the House this week that would allow one lawmaker to vote in place of another. “There is a lot of opposition to this in our ranks,” Rep. Tom Cole, the top Republican on the House Rules Committee, told the Washington Examiner. “I see a lot of dangers, and I don’t see many advantages." Democrats, who are in the majority, will bring up a measure as soon as this week that for the first time in history would allow proxy voting on the House floor. Democrats proposed the change to respond to the coronavirus outbreak, which has shuttered the House since mid-March.
The legislative text isn’t available yet, but Rules Committee Chairman Jim McGovern recently unveiled the proposal to fellow Democrats during a conference call. It would permit lawmakers who are not able to come to Washington to provide “a letter to the Clerk authorizing another Member to vote on their behalf and providing exact instruction, which must be followed, on how that Member should vote for each scheduled vote.” The letter could be submitted electronically, McGovern, a Massachusetts Democrat, said, and lawmakers present in the chamber who are authorized to vote on behalf of another member could only do so with specific instruction. McGovern said the proxy votes would count toward achieving a quorum.
House Republicans said Democrats have barely discussed the proposal with them and that it is not bipartisan. The Rules Committee could meet in person in the Capitol as early as Tuesday to mark up legislation for floor consideration this week. Democratic leaders told House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy about their proposal a half-hour before releasing it to the public. McCarthy aides said the California Republican wants any major rules change to include input from GOP lawmakers. “McCarthy is generally opposed because 200 years of House history should not be flippantly ignored, and [he] believes any sort of discussion on the matter would have to be bipartisan,” a McCarthy spokesman told the Washington Examiner. House rules have never permitted proxy voting on legislation taken up by the entire body. Proxy voting on House committee action was once allowed, but lawmakers banned it in 1995. The Senate continues to permit proxy voting in committee, but GOP leaders who control the chamber are not planning to allow proxy voting on the Senate floor. Cole said McGovern provided a teleconference briefing on the proposed House change to committee members this week. Cole said he believes Democrats “are rushing into something that most members have not had an opportunity to think about and discuss.” The rules change will have to pass by roll-call vote with a chamber full of lawmakers.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/congress/i-see-a-lot-of-dangers-gop-leaders-oppose-measure-to-allow-proxy-voting
I was seen this moar as an avoidance of being in Washington, making it harder for their incarceration.