Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA) “forgot” to cast a proxy vote on behalf of Rep. John Carter (R-TX), which ultimately would have killed the $1.9 trillion Capitol security funding bill that passed by one vote on Thursday, according to a report.
Carter submitted a letter to the clerk of the House of Representatives dated May 14 giving Calvert authority to cast his vote by proxy “due to the ongoing public health emergency.” The final vote for the bill was 213 to 212.
A no vote from Carter would have tied the vote. A tied vote would have sunk the bill in the House since it would have blocked it from passing. The House cannot break a tying vote like the Senate, where the vice president can vote when the votes are tied.
According to Just the News, who first reported on this, Carter had successfully voted by proxy on the “the motion to recommit” earlier in the day, just not the final vote on the supplemental security bill.
A spokesperson for Carter had told Just the News the congressman “would have voted against the bill if his proxy vote was counted for the final vote.” Additionally, the spokesperson said, “The congressman included a statement in the record that he would’ve voted no.”
Just the News had asked a spokesperson in Calvert’s office why the proxy on the final vote on the 1.9 billion bill was not counted. The spokesperson answered, “Rep. Calvert had been voting by proxy for Rep. Carter throughout the week.” The spokesperson had also added, “Rep. Calvert made a mistake and simply forgot to cast Rep. Carter’s vote.”
The records show Calvert voted in-person on the final vote.
According to the House clerk who keeps the records of all congressional members using proxy voting published rules allowing them to use the right “Pursuant to House Resolution 8, 117th Congress, and House Resolution 965, 116th Congress.” that allows the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to designate certain times, members are allowed to vote by proxy.
During the pandemic, Pelosi has given representatives the option to vote by proxy or in-person.
Breitbart News reported last week Democrat Rep. Jared Golden (ME) had used proxy voting to help Pelosi pass the bill, with the one-vote margin, after he had previously pledged not to use the voting style; for “family responsibilities.”
Rep. Daniel Webster also did not vote on the bill. According to the report, he has been opposed to the use of proxy voting and was unable to vote in-person. A spokesperson for Webster told the Just the News, “Rep. Webster missed votes because he was unavoidably detained in the district and wasn’t able to make it to D.C. in time to make the votes.”
“He likely would have opposed the bill — he didn’t proxy vote on principle as he is on the record opposing proxy-voting and was part of the original lawsuit challenging its constitutionality,” the spokesperson for Webster added.
