WASHINGTON — Rep. Madison Cawthorn should have been on the House floor Wednesday afternoon.
The Republican freshman’s colleagues tackled whether to ban judicial enforcement of nondisclosure agreements in cases of sexual assault and harassment.
Cawthorn was nowhere to be found.
Instead he submitted a letter to the House Clerk: “I am unable to physically attend proceedings in the House Chamber due to the ongoing public health emergency, and I hereby grant the authority to cast my vote by proxy to the Honorable Matt Gaetz (Florida) who has agreed to serve as my proxy.”
This is the 12th letter, since losing reelection in May, that Cawthorn submitted to the clerk’s office saying he wouldn’t be on the House floor. And his 39th total.
That wasn’t unusual. Sixty lawmakers had equal or greater numbers since the pandemic began. But Cawthorn’s only term in Congress has left the perception that he cared more about his celebrity status than creating policy. When he lost reelection in May in the wake of a string of scandals, the 27-year-old closed up his district offices, and early this fall he began packing his office in the Cannon building on the Capitol grounds.
His merchandise was photographed at a Goodwill in his district. Then The Asheville Citizen-Times reported that he purchased a $1.16 million home in Florida, leaving many asking if he had left the state altogether.
The house comes with a boat, according to the listing on Zillow.
McClatchy asked Cawthorn’s spokesman, Micah Bock, Wednesday morning about Cawthorn’s future plans.
In the past Cawthorn said he wanted to be governor, but he’s too young to run in both Florida and North Carolina in 2024.
So, since he lost reelection, everyone is asking: What now?
“That’s certainly the question, right,” Bock answered. “And unfortunately, I can’t really give you anything concrete. I know there’s been reports that he’s purchased property down in Florida. But in terms of work products or things of that nature, there’s nothing I can get to right now.”
McClatchy asked Bock to clarify whether he was choosing not to discuss future plans or couldn’t because those plans were still being worked on.
“I’ll decline to answer that one,” Bock said. “Unfortunately, I probably won’t answer that. Right now.”
When asked if Cawthorn still lives in North Carolina or moved to his house in Florida, Bock said that the answer to that is personal.
Reminding Bock that Cawthorn represents the people of the 11th Congressional District, Bock gave a little more insight.
“Congressman Cawthorn is delighted and excited to continue representing North Carolina all the way through the end of his term and into the future, and hopes to continue representing the great state that he hails from,” Bock said.
Within hours of Bock’s comments, Gaetz cast a vote on behalf of Cawthorn.
Cawthorn’s proxy vote was against banning the enforcement of NDAs. It wasn’t a party-line vote, either. North Carolina’s eight Republicans were split on the bill. Reps. Richard Hudson, Greg Murphy, Patrick McHenry and David Rouzer voted in favor of the bill with their five Democratic colleagues.
And going back to the clerk’s letter — did Cawthorn really miss Wednesday’s vote because of the pandemic?
Unlikely.
Cawthorn made appearances at large gatherings in both Washington, D.C., and Florida throughout Tuesday.
On Tuesday afternoon, CNN reporter Manu Raju spotted Cawthorn outside the House’s GOP leadership elections. Since Cawthorn won’t serve in the 118th Congress, he wouldn’t have been allowed to participate in that vote.
Hours later, national media outlets began reporting Cawthorn was in Florida. He was the only member of Congress in attendance when former President Donald Trump announced Tuesday night that he planned to seek reelection in 2024.
“Got to watch history tonight,” Cawthorn posted on Instagram stories. “Let the battles begin.”
Trump’s announcement took place in a room packed full of people at Mar-a-Lago, his home, and the site of his members-only club, in southern Florida.
It was clear Cawthorn had been given a spot in the front row on the far left side of Trump’s event. Cawthorn’s former spokesperson, Luke Ball, also made social media posts about being there.
When Cawthorn left the event, he made a video about why he supports Trump and feels the rest of the country should, too.
“I want a president who people are terrified of,” Cawthorn said. “Who is going to push people out of the way when he’s walking up because he’s the United States of freakin’ America and he represents all of us.”
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