A weekslong dustup over proxy voting for new parents in the House came to an end Tuesday despite a last-ditch effort from one of its chief proponents.
“Congress is stuck doing things the way that we did hundreds of years ago, and it’s time that we move it to the 21st century,” Rep. Brittany Pettersen said from the House floor with her 10-week-old son, Sam, in her arms.
The Colorado Democrat has led the charge to allow proxy voting for up to 12 weeks after birth, alongside Florida Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna. It started to fizzle over the weekend after Luna announced a deal with Speaker Mike Johnson to abandon a discharge petition that would have forced a floor vote on the issue.
