Murphy Votes Against Proxy Voting, Partisan $3 Trillion Spending Package

Washington, D.C. – On Friday, May 15, 2020, Congressman Greg Murphy, M.D. (NC-03) voted against H. Res. 965 and H.R. 6800. Both measures passed the U.S. House of Representatives.

Since H. Res. 965 is a House rule change, passable by a simple majority, it does not require approval from the Senate and thus becomes effective immediately, changing more than 200 years of precedent in the lower chamber. The measure outlines procedures for proxy voting and remote committee hearings and markups. Article One, Section Five of the U.S. Constitution states, "a Majority of each [chamber] shall constitute a Quorum to do Business." This means at least more than half of the members of the House of Representatives must be present to pass legislation in the House of Representatives.

Proxy voting allows designated members of the House of Representatives to carry 10 other members' votes and vote on their behalf. By allowing each proxy to represent up to 10 members, the majority party could conduct legislative business and unilaterally pass legislation with only 20 of their members present. The text of H. Res. 965 can be found here.

H.R. 6800 is a $3 trillion piece of legislation compiled by House Democrats behind closed doors to address the Coronavirus and many other items unrelated to the Coronavirus. The measure now heads to the U.S. Senate. The text of H.R. 6800 can be found here.

"Aside from the fact that proxy voting is completely unconstitutional, there is no substitute for negotiating, debating and voting in person. Our actions today have created a precedent for the future, and there's no question that these changes will create unintended consequences," said Murphy. "Congress already has passed several Coronavirus funding measures under the former House rules. Proxy voting and remote procedures will simply incentivize the majority to write more partisan messaging bills like H.R. 6800 without Republican input – an 1,800-page wish list for liberal Democrats.

"Democrats know H.R. 6800 is dead on arrival in the Senate. Whether you look to its drastic federal election law changes, bailouts for blue states who have had irresponsible fiscal policies or any of the other partisan measures in this piece of legislation, it's easy to deduce that this bill will never become law. I tried to improve this bill by offering an amendment which would simply ensure that illegal immigrants cannot receive stimulus checks, but Democrats blocked it.

"Since day one of this pandemic, Democrats have tried to use the outbreak as leverage to pass their unrelated liberal agenda through Congress. This crisis gave us an opportunity to come together as a nation and fight it together. It is deeply disappointing that Nancy Pelosi and her fellow Democrats have not felt the same the same way."