Democrats have been trying to dismantle our norms and institutions for years. They’ve called into question everything our founders built, from the Electoral College and the president’s executive powers to the Senate’s constitutional prerogative to confirm Supreme Court justices. Now, Democrats are planning to transform fundamentally one of our greatest institutions — Congress.
Last week, in a letter sent by House Administration Committee Chairwoman Zoe Lofgren to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Democrats laid the groundwork to expand their temporary proxy-voting scheme into a fully remote “vote by text” operation. This plan to institute remote voting for members of Congress fully is unsecure and unconstitutional. Remote voting will fundamentally change the way the House functions, making it more partisan, less representative, and less deliberative.
Remote voting has no place in Congress. It is our duty to report to work for the people. Our nation has experienced great trials throughout our history, yet Congress has always reported for work. Through a Civil War, multiple pandemics, and two world wars, Congress has met to conduct business.
Even in the wake of Sept. 11, 2001, the most devastating terrorist attacks on U.S. soil, Congress assembled. Members came together on the steps of the Capitol hours after the attacks, and within a week, Congress had passed an authorization for the use of military force to hold those responsible for the attacks accountable.
Yet this year, when the public most needed its representatives to stand for it in Washington, Pelosi refused to allow us to convene to discuss coronavirus relief. Instead, she shattered constitutional and institutional norms to allow proxy voting, a rule House Democrats have abused for everything from skipping emergency sessions to attending space launches. Now, Pelosi wants to take it a step further and allow members to vote by text message.
The Constitution uses the words “quorum,” “meeting,” “assemble,” “attendance,” “present,” and “absent” to make clear that elected members of Congress must show up for work and cast their votes from the floor of the House of Representatives. If essential workers can report to work during a pandemic, so can members of Congress. But Pelosi and House Democrats have shown they are far more interested in consolidating power than reporting to work for their constituents.
Remote voting puts our security at risk because of how difficult it is to verify that the member is actually the person voting. It opens the door to all kinds of abuse. Members could vote on legislation while attending political fundraisers. Unelected and unaccountable staffers could vote on behalf of the member.
More importantly, however, remote voting threatens the very institution of Congress. We live in a nation with a tremendous diversity of thought, opinion, and interests. It is this diversity that makes it vital for all 435 representatives from their districts and localities and all 50 states across the country to assemble for discussion and deliberation.
The founders intended Congress to be the most deliberative branch of government. The word “Congress” means “to assemble together.” To have a true republic, we need representation and reasoned deliberation. And while our partisan political climate these days doesn’t reflect much deliberation, remote voting will only make that problem worse, creating more partisanship and centralizing control in the hands of the speaker of the House.
For months, Congress has held committee meetings on WebEx, which has severely limited our ability to debate, hold conversations, or ask questions. Extending remote voting will only further limit in-person hearings and floor debate. Fewer hearings will lead to lower quality and more partisan legislation. It also will silence the voices of the minority as well as centrists in the majority, insulating party leadership from dissent. This kind of one-party rule has all but destroyed California; we can’t let the same thing happen to America. Concentrated power always leads to tyranny.
Remote voting is bad for Congress and bad for the country. It is unconstitutional, and it centralizes power in the hands of the few. Members should not receive salaries on the taxpayers’ dime while they sit at home.
Remote voting threatens the very essence of Congress: deliberative government. If Pelosi allows members to vote by text, the institution will cease to be a Congress at all. We will have invented a new form of government, one that offers far less accountability and transparency to the people.
Rep. Mark Green, an emergency room physician and combat veteran who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, serves on the House Foreign Affairs, Homeland Security, and Oversight committees.
