GOP leaders accused of making threats to block bill to let new moms vote remotely [View all]

Source: NPR

March 27, 2025 5:23 PM ET


Florida Republican Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna is accusing leaders from her own party of threatening and bribing other lawmakers to block her effort to allow proxy voting for new parents in the House of Representatives.

"I'm not going to be bought. I will tell you that I've now been reached out to multiple times, offering me positions on different committees, and I don't want it because this is bigger than me," Luna told reporters on Thursday. "It's about actually changing the institution for the better."

Luna, 35, became the 12th lawmaker to give birth while serving in the House in 2023 and appealed to GOP leaders to adjust the rules so that new parents can cast votes remotely around the birth of a child. Both former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and current Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., rebuffed her.

"I'm a father. I'm pro-family. The Republican Party is pro-family. We want to make it as easy as possible for young parents to be able to participate in the process," Johnson said earlier this week when asked by NPR about the push to change the rules. "But proxy voting, in my view, is unconstitutional." Johnson's office declined to comment on allegations by Luna about bribes or perceived threats to other lawmakers.

Read more: https://www.npr.org/2025/03/27/g-s1-56535/congress-new-parents-remote-voting