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Two House Republicans have introduced legislation that would reduce lawmakers' annual office budgets if they vote by proxy during the coronavirus pandemic instead of traveling to Washington to cast votes in person.

The bill introduced Thursday from GOP Reps. Mike JohnsonJames (Mike) Michael JohnsonHouse Republicans call for cutting office budgets of lawmakers who use proxy voting The Hill's Morning Report - Treasury, Fed urge more spending, lending to ease COVID-19 wreckage Floyd's brother urges Congress to take action MORE (La.) and Debbie Lesko (Ariz.) would direct the House Administration Committee cut a lawmaker's annual Member Representational Allowance (MRA) by the amount that would have been spent if they traveled to Washington.

House Democrats adopted rules changes in May that allow lawmakers to cast votes and conduct committee meetings remotely during the coronavirus pandemic to accommodate safety concerns over the risks of congregating closely together in the Capitol. Under the new proxy voting system, lawmakers can authorize colleagues physically present in the Capitol to cast votes on their behalf.

About 70 Democrats voted by proxy for the first time on May 27, while Republicans who have been pushing to reopen the economy as soon as possible have insisted on voting in person. House Republicans have also filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the proxy voting system.

"We've challenged their rule in court, but as long as it is in place, it stands to reason that if any member chooses not to travel to D.C. to vote, his or her taxpayer-funded travel allowance should be deducted by the amount that would have been spent on that trip," Johnson said in a statement.

If members are not going to travel for votes and instead rely on proxy voting, they should be required to give the money allocated for travel back to the Treasury. Its only fair," Lesko added.

The size of individual MRAs varies by each lawmaker. Each MRA includes a mileage allowance, which is based on the distance between a lawmaker's district and Washington, that can be used to pay for official travel expenses.

Many of the Democrats who voted by proxy last month hail from districts on the West Coast, meaning that their MRAs would have higher mileage allowances.

Lesko previously offered a similar proposal to cut lawmakers' MRAs if they vote by proxy or attend a proceeding remotely during a House Rules Committee markup of the resolution enacting the rules changes last month. But it was rejected along party lines.

Rep. Jamie RaskinJamin (Jamie) Ben RaskinHouse Republicans call for cutting office budgets of lawmakers who use proxy voting House GOP lawmakers defy new mask requirement Oversight Committee Democrats demand DHS, DOJ investigate white supremacist involvement in protests MORE (D-Md.), a member of the Rules Committee, suggested at the time that such a proposal should also apply to lawmakers who sleep in their offices to save on real estate costs while in Washington.

"What I recommend to the gentlelady and I know she's offered this in all sincerity is that she combine with those people who are saying that members who sleep in their offices should have to return part of their salary to the United States government. Because part of their salary undoubtedly is to cover the costs of their living in Washington when they're here," Raskin said.

House Republicans' lawsuit challenging proxy voting remains ongoing, but President TrumpDonald John TrumpProtesters tear down, burn statue of Confederate general in DC US attorney in NYC who spearheaded probes of Trump allies refuses to leave as DOJ pushes ouster Trump to host 4th of July event despite pleas from lawmakers to cancel MORE has already signed into law two measures that the House passed with proxy votes. The two bipartisan bills concerning enhanced flexibility for loans offered through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and sanctions on officials responsible for Chinas forced labor camps targeting Uighur Muslims both passed easily with GOP support.

Trump issued a statement on June 5 after signing the PPP bill urging Congress to "pass the Act anew through traditional in-person voting at the earliest available opportunity." He said that he still signed the bill, despite the ongoing GOP lawsuit, because the measure is "essential to protecting jobs as the nation begins to reopen the economy."

Democrats maintain that proxy voting is constitutional, citing legal precedent finding that each chamber of Congress has the authority to determine its own rules. They also point to precedent in both the House and Senate of proxy voting in committees.

Republicans ended the use of proxy voting in committees in the 1990s under then-Speaker Newt GingrichNewton (Newt) Leroy GingrichMORE (R-Ga.) as part of their reforms to House rules upon winning the majority. But proxy voting is still allowed in Senate committees.

The rules changes adopted by House Democrats only allow proxy voting for 45 days a time, unless Speaker Nancy PelosiNancy PelosiHouse Republicans call for cutting office budgets of lawmakers who use proxy voting The Hill's Morning Report - Presented by Facebook - Trump under fire as SCOTUS, Bolton deal blows Republican rift opens up over qualified immunity for police MORE (D-Calif.) extends it further, and only for the duration of the coronavirus pandemic.

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House Republicans call for cutting office budgets of lawmakers who use proxy voting | TheHill - The Hill

Published: 6/20/2020 12:01:28 AM

Modified: 6/20/2020 12:01:16 AM

Wait. What? Van Moshers open letter to Gov. Chris Sununu threatening to withhold his vote unless he supports Donald Trump? Invoking the Thumper Rule from the Disney movie Bambi, If you cant say something nice, dont say nothing at all. So lets ignore everything that is going terribly wrong (and there is plenty) and just mention that 2.5 million jobs were created in May. Lets not mention that todays economy still has nearly 20 million fewer jobs than it did in February because, well, thats not nice.

The polls show Gov. Sununus approval rating to be far above Trumps. Im doubtful that our governor is worried about Moshers vote. Gov. Sununu is on a short but growing list of Republicans who have the integrity to stand up to the bully in the White House.

I am a solid Democrat but I have respect for Sununu, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, Mitt Romney, and others who refuse to knuckle under to this megalomaniacs wrath.

As for Kelly Ayotte, yes, she was popular. She ran a strong race against a very popular Democrat in Gov. Maggie Hassan. If, as Mosher puts it, being a team player requires women to ignore a candidates misogynistic behavior, she should be proud of the stance she took. My advice to Van is to invest in the Disney Channel, remain in the world of fantasy and chill.

SIRI BAKER MOSHER

Bow

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Letter: Respect for Republicans who stand up to Trump - Concord Monitor

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis | Brynn Anderson/AP Photo

TALLAHASSEE Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday took steps to help localities prepare for what could be high voter turnout this year, but stopped short of extending early voting or letting counties consolidate polling places in the battleground amid signs that President Donald Trump's disparagement of mailed ballots could be resonating with Republican voters.

DeSantis called on schools to close during the August primary and November general election to make room for what might be record voter turnout. He also issued an executive order that makes it easier for state employees to work at the polls on Election Day.

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DeSantis, a Republican and Trump ally, has been under pressure for months from local election supervisors, who fear the coronavirus pandemic could affect their ability to recruit poll workers and manage balloting in a presidential year.

The announcements were relayed late Wednesday in a letter from Secretary of State Laurel Lee to the states 67 election supervisors.

The governor acted after rising pressure from Republican allies, who worry that Florida once again could become a national laughing-stock during the 2020 state and presidential elections.

Citing frightened poll workers and a loss of polling locations, the association that represents state election officials first asked DeSantis in early April to grant them flexibility over early voting, polling locations and the time period for sending out mail-in ballots.

Then Georgias primary election was marred by long lines and problems with voting machines, an ominous sign of possible trouble for a state like Florida, which has had its own run of voting calamities, including a chaotic recount that followed the 2000 presidential election.

But the DeSantis administration on Wednesday didn't act on several suggestions from supervisors, including a request to extend the number of early voting days and consolidate polling places.

Instead, the governor urged local school districts to close on Aug. 18 and Nov. 3 to make it easier to use schools as polling places.

Under the executive order, state workers will be allowed to take administrative leave to serve as poll workers. DeSantis also gave counties the ability to begin counting vote-by-mail ballots slightly before the current starting date. The governor also promised that the states emergency management division would provide sanitizers, cleaners and other protective equipment to supervisors.

Its very helpful, Im glad we got a response, Leon County Supervisor of Elections Mark Earley said. It gives us something to work with.

Florida Democratic Party Chair Terrie Rizzo said the governor's moves didn't go far enough.

Its disappointing the governor will not honor those who fought and died for us to have the right to vote by ensuring that Floridians do not have to endanger themselves to exercise their right to vote, Rizzo said in a text message. If the governor was serious about protecting our health and our vote he would expand the executive order to meet the requests of elections supervisors including expanding early voting to reduce lines on Election Day, funding to promote statewide vote-by-mail enrollment and a clear roadmap to conducting free and safe elections.

DeSantis had another reason to act: There are growing signs that the Republican voters Trump needs to win in the battleground state could abandon vote-by-mail as their preferred way to cast ballots. For decades, Florida Republicans have had a robust vote-by-mail operation, but Trump has spent months vilifying the process as rife with fraud.

During the 2018 election, voting in the state was split roughly three ways between voting by mail, early voting in person and casting a ballot in person on Election Day.

But a June poll from The Tyson Group, an organization run by GOP pollster Ryan Tyson, shows a growing number of Republican voters plan to vote on Election Day while Democrats say they plan to cast their ballots by mail.

The poll, conducted June 7-11, found that 49 percent of likely Republican voters surveyed plan to vote on Election Day itself, compared to 28 percent of Democrats.

Forty percent of Democrats said they plan to vote by mail, compared to 23 percent of Republicans. The Tyson Group interviewed 1,000 registered voters who are expected to or said they would vote in 2020. The margin of error in the poll is plus or minus 3.1 percent.

The governors action also comes as he and Florida election officials fight a lawsuit that was filed in the U.S. District Court for Northern Florida by a group of Florida voters, Democratic super PAC Priorities USA and other Democratic-leaning organizations.

The case seeks to throw out state ballot-return deadlines and laws that limit who is allowed to collect vote-by-mail ballots and return them to local election offices. The lawsuit also wants local election officials to pick up the postage cost for returning ballots, something that 17 counties including urban locales such as Broward and Orange were already planning to do.

Many election supervisors, both Democrats and Republicans, have opposed the lawsuit, which will go before a judge in late July.

The Republican National Committee and the Republican Party of Florida are also fighting the lawsuit.

DeSantis announced his plan a day after the state Division of Elections told county supervisors it would distribute more than $20.2 million to them on July 1 to take precautions against the coronavirus. Congress provided $400 million in the CARES Act to help states prepare for elections during the outbreak.

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DeSantis offers Election Day help as Republicans say they'll cast ballots in person - POLITICO

Public opinion is now in favor of the protesters who have spent the last three weeks advocating for police reform in response to the death of George Floyd, a black man killed by a police officer in Minneapolis.

This is notable, because public opinion around the protests was initially split. But as the protests have grown larger and spread to more parts of the country, theres evidence they have become more popular. For instance, in a Morning Consult survey conducted June 10-12, 64 percent of Americans said they supported the protests, up 10 percentage points from the first time the pollster asked in late May and early June.

[Related: Theres A Huge Gap In How Republicans And Democrats See Discrimination]

In fact, the protests are so popular that theyre now supported by majorities of Democrats and Republicans. But this bipartisan support masks some of the enormous differences that still exist between the two parties on issues of race and discrimination.

For starters, theres a pretty big gap in just how strongly Democrats and Republicans back the protests. In last weeks Economist/YouGov poll, for instance, 73 percent of Democrats said they strongly approve of the nonviolent protests, compared with just 27 percent of Republicans. And according to the most recent Yahoo News/YouGov poll, Democrats and Republicans are also fairly split on how peaceful the protests have been, how long they should last and whats driving them. In that poll, Democrats were 40 points more likely than Republicans to say that the protests have been mostly peaceful and three-quarters of Republicans said they wanted the protests to stop now, compared to less than one-quarter of Democrats. Republicans were also 44 points more likely than Democrats to say the protests were primarily motivated by long-standing biases against the police, whereas most Democrats said the protests were motivated by a genuine desire to hold police accountable.

The fact that Democrats and Republicans are so polarized when it comes to the motives driving the protests is important because it conveys just how differently Republicans and Democrats view racism in America.

In its polling, YouGov asked respondents a number of questions on whether systemic racism was a problem or whether police killings signaled a bigger issue within American life. As you can see in the chart below, Democrats and Republicans are divided, with as much as a 60-point gap separating them on some of these issues. Recent surveys by CBS, CNN and Monmouth University have found equally large partisan divides on race and policing as well.

The thing is, public opinion about race hasnt always been this polarized.

In fact, some attitudes about race were entirely unrelated to partisanship before Barack Obama was elected president in 2008. But after he was elected, racial attitudes and party identification became increasingly intertwined to the extent that by 2012, opposition to interracial relationships or overtly negative views of African Americans predicted whether someone identified as Republican for the first time in decades.

[Related: Do You Know How Divided White And Black Americans Are On Racism?]

Of course, Donald Trumps political rise took this growing partisan polarization over race to new heights. Democrats, in particular, quickly consolidated their views in reaction to Trumps offensive statements about racial and ethnic minorities.

CBS News polls from the last 10 years underscore just how much Democrats have changed their opinion of systemic racism in a relatively short period of time. As you can see in the chart below, it wasnt that long ago when Democrats and Republicans responded pretty similarly to the question of whether white Americans had an easier time of getting ahead.

Democrats, however, are now much more likely to agree that societal advantages exist for white Americans than they were five years ago. A similar shift has happened on questions of police brutality and institutional racism within the criminal justice system. For instance, the percentage of Democrats who think that the police disproportionately use deadly force against black Americans increased by more than 30 points since CBS News first asked the question in August 2014. Meanwhile, Republicans views have remained steady just 24 percent think the police disproportionately use deadly force against African Americans.

Its certainly not surprising, then, that Democrats and Republicans are so divided over race and policing after Floyds death. The upshot of this growing polarization is that Democrats and Republicans increasingly inhabit separate realities about race in America, worlds apart on everything from the causes of racial inequality to the Confederate flags meaning to the N-words offensiveness to the value of teaching black history in schools.

[Related: How Black Americans View Their Racial Identity]

The current partisan divide over race may be predictable, but its still incredibly important especially considering this is a presidential election year. Race has long been an effective wedge issue for the Republican Party, as demonstrated by the 2016 election, when Republicans split up the Democrats diverse coalition of nonwhite voters, white racially liberal voters and racially conservative white voters. But after 12 years of Obama and Trump, racially conservative Democrats have mostly defected or converted. That means Democrats are now united about many of the racial issues that once splintered the party.

Take the Black Lives Matter movement, for example. In a June 2016 Pew Research Center poll, only 64 percent of white Democrats and 20 percent of white Republicans supported the Black Lives Matter movement. Those numbers are now up to 92 percent among white Democrats and 37 percent among white Republicans in the latest Pew survey.

[Related: Public Opinion Of The Black Lives Matter Movement Has Shifted. What Happens Next?]

The fact that Republicans experienced a nearly 20-point increase in support since 2014 doesnt bode well for them either, considering polls at this point indicate that it is Democrats and not Republicans who are now more unified on many issues of race. In fact, congressional Democrats efforts to pass sweeping legislation to help remedy some of the racial biases in the criminal justice system could even be an effective racial wedge issue for the Democratic Party heading into November.

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Republicans And Democrats Agree On The Protests But Not Why People Are Protesting - FiveThirtyEight

The recommendation is part of a new report issued by Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee Monday, which outlines the findings of a months-long investigation into the origins of the outbreak and Beijing's efforts to "conceal the spread and novel nature of the virus."

"After months of investigating, it's become crystal clear the Chinese Communist Party's cover-up of the coronavirus, especially in the early days of the outbreak, played a significant role in turning what could have been a local epidemic into a global pandemic," Republican Rep. Michael McCaul, leader of the GOP China task force, said in a statement to CNN.

"And, unfortunately, the World Health Organization under the leadership of Director General Tedros (Adhanom Ghebreyesus) only exacerbated the problem by repeatedly ignoring warnings about the severity of the virus, including from their own health experts, while at the same time parroting the CCP's propaganda without independently confirming their claims," he added.

"While I join the president in his frustration with the WHO under Tedros' leadership, I think we can affect more change within the organization as a member. I was pleased to hear NSA {Robert} O'Brien say the U.S. 'would consider coming back' once necessary reforms were enacted," McCaul told CNN.

Investigating the origins of the coronavirus outbreak has become a partisan issue in recent months as top Trump administration officials have attempted to publicly blame China, and the WHO, for the outbreak spreading to the US as it faces criticism for its own response.

However, aides involved in compiling Monday's GOP report are making clear that the findings are not just a political diversion tactic, insisting they should be reviewed separately from any oversight of the administration's domestic response. A Democratic committee aide told CNN that it was unclear if members or staff had reviewed the report released Monday.

The investigation primarily involved a thorough review of open source reporting and the recommendations were made after consulting the State Department and key allies, committee aides told CNN, adding that the probe only covers matters under the panel's jurisdiction.

But while the GOP-led probe determined that there is evidence supporting many of the allegations made by US officials, investigators ultimately disagreed with the administration's decision to withdraw from the WHO, breaking with President Donald Trump, who announced just last month that the US would do just that.

Instead, the report calls for an international investigation into the WHO's actions and for Tedros to resign.

"Director General Tedros has failed in his duties as the head of the World Health Organization. Until Tedros is no longer the head of the WHO, I do not believe the United States should contribute any additional voluntary funds," McCaul said.

On Monday, the WHO confirmed that the US still one of its member states.

"Yes, the United States is still a member of the -- a member state -- of the World Health Organization," Tedros said when asked about the relationship during a media briefing in Geneva on Monday.

Will Trump reverse his decision?

It remains to be seen if Monday's report has any impact on Trump's decision to cut ties with the WHO but committee aides told CNN that its recommendations are based on exhaustive conversations with several key US allies who agree the US should remain a member of the WHO.

The hope, aides said, is that the US can build an international coalition to enact significant changes at the WHO, which has faced questions about its independence given China's rising wealth and power.

Critics point to the WHO's effusive praise of China's response to the pandemic. Organization officials have defended their early actions when it came to fighting the coronavirus, noting that much was unknown about the virus back in January.

That argument is echoed throughout Monday's GOP report, which includes a list of unanswered questions for WHO officials who aides told CNN have failed to respond to multiple letters from McCaul.

Trump's decision to permanently terminate the US relationship with the WHO follows a years-long pattern of skepticism of world organizations, with the President claiming that the US is being taken advantage of.

The President has questioned US funding to the United Nations and NATO, withdrawn from the Paris climate accord and repeatedly criticized the World Trade Organization.

Trump has also said that if the WHO had acted appropriately, he could have instituted a travel ban on people coming from China sooner.

But health experts, US lawmakers and world leaders have expressed concern over defunding the organization amid a pandemic.

After Trump's announcement last month, a WHO spokesperson told CNN, "We have no comment to offer at this point."

Chinese government bears 'overwhelming responsibility'

Ultimately, however, the report alleges that the Chinese government bears responsibility for failing to warn the world before the outbreak spread out of control, infecting people on nearly every continent, killing hundreds of thousands and leaving many more isolated.

China had enough information to warrant a full scale public health response as early as mid-December of last year but government officials attempted to keep the spread of cases quiet, the report argues.

"Based on an examination of the early stages of the outbreak, efforts to conceal the spread and novel nature of the virus, failures to share accurate information as required by international law, and the suppression of voices seeking to warn the world, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) bears overwhelming responsibility for allowing a local outbreak to become a global pandemic," it reads.

"In sum, the COVID-19 global pandemic could have been prevented if the CCP acted in a transparent and responsible manner," the report adds.

Currently, the earliest case identified by Chinese authorities can be traced back to November 17, 2019, in the city of Wuhan, according to the GOP investigation, which notes that the cause of the virus remains unknown but is "believed to likely be the result of a zoonotic spillover event."

As the virus began to spread throughout Wuhan in November and early December, Chinese officials did not report the emerging outbreak to international health officials despite regulations that were implemented following the SARS pandemic in 2003 requiring them to do so.

Despite public reports to the contrary, the Chinese government also did not directly notify WHO about signs of the emerging coronavirus outbreak in late December, one of several instances in which Beijing violated international law as part of a sweeping cover-up of the pandemic's origins, according to the report.

Instead, WHO officials first learned about an initial cluster of atypical pneumonia cases in the Chinese city of Wuhan from online posts that were picked up by a "US-based open-access platform for early intelligence about infectious disease outbreaks," according to the GOP document, which cites public remarks made by to Dr. Michael Ryan, the executive director of the WHO's Health Emergencies Program on April 20.

"WHO headquarters in Geneva instructed the WHO China Country Office to seek verification of these reports from the PRC's government. Despite public reporting to the contrary, the PRC never notified the WHO about the outbreak in Wuhan," the GOP report reads.

But Ryan's comments were not widely reported by Western media outlets and the WHO has done little to make clear that they were never approached by the Chinese government.

Last month, Trump said that China had not properly reported information it had about the coronavirus to the World Health Organization and said China had pressured the WHO to "mislead the world."

"Chinese officials ignored their reporting obligations to the World Health Organization and pressured the World Health Organization to mislead the world when the virus was first discovered by Chinese authorities," Trump said. "Countless lives have been taken and profound economic hardship has been inflicted all around the globe."

Chinese officials have repeatedly pushed back on allegations that they are to blame for the outbreak and amplified unfounded conspiracy theories about the virus' origins.

Still no evidence virus escaped from Wuhan lab

Trump has repeatedly pointed the finger at China and the WHO while mostly giving himself rave reviews for its handling of the pandemic, despite Covid-19 testing fumbles and a national stockpile short on supplies when they were needed most.

Last month, the President undercut a rare on-the-record statement from his own intelligence community hours earlier by claiming he had seen evidence that gives him a "high degree of confidence" the novel coronavirus originated in a laboratory in Wuhan, China, but declined to provide details to back up his assertion.

Despite warnings from scientists and intelligence professionals that the US may never know the precise origin of the virus, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has also pushed the intelligence community for precise details about the origin of the virus, CNN has learned.

As a result, intelligence officials are facing enormous pressure to determine whether the virus came from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, two sources familiar with their frustrations told CNN. While the intelligence community has been wary to share details about the demands coming from the Trump administration, officials have told allies that the situation on the inside is alarming.

Assessments by scientists and those circulated among US intelligence-sharing allies have posited that it is "highly unlikely" the virus originated in a lab.

The US intelligence community has said it is looking into both possibilities and Monday's GOP report reiterates that neither the virus' origin nor patient zero are currently known.

Monday's report does, however, note that there are lingering safety questions involving the Wuhan Institute of Virology, a facility that has often been linked to theories about the outbreak's origins.

While the report makes clear that legitimate questions about the facility's security are "not evidence that the ongoing pandemic is the result of a release, accidental or deliberate, from the lab, or what the staffing status was at the time of the outbreak of COVID-19 in late 2019, it is important to consider these concerns in light of the PRC's history with lab accidents."

CNN's Jacqueline Howard and Jennifer Hansler contributed to this report.

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Republicans urge Trump not to terminate relationship with World Health Organization - CNN