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Speaker Johnson strikes ‘live/dead pairing’ deal with Anna Paulina Luna

April 7, 2025 | | Print Article

Florida Rep. Anna Paulina Luna’s (R) proxy vote fight found agreement with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) through a centuries-old strategy.

Obstruction arrived on the House floor last week when the Florida lawmaker’s efforts enlisting Democrats to push for a parental leave privilege resulted in the speaker canceling votes on key issues. However, after adamantly opposing proxy voting as it had been proposed, Johnson reportedly came to an accord with Luna through “live/dead pairing.”

The mother, who gave birth to her first child after she was elected to Congress, took to X Sunday to detail, “Speaker Johnson and I have reached an agreement to bring back a procedure called live/dead pairing, which dates back to the 1800s. It will be open for the entire conference to use when unable to vote (e.g., new parents, bereaved, emergencies, etc.).”

“Thanks to @POTUS and his guidance, as well as all of those who worked to get this change done, this is becoming the most modern, pro-family Congress we’ve ever seen,” she added as the agreed upon procedure entails the absent legislator to pair with a member of Congress holding the opposite position on a bill who would agree to abstain from voting to negate that absence.

According to The Hill, Johnson affirmed the deal during a GOP conference call Sunday where he called for members to support the Senate’s passed budget resolution.

Prior to the agreement, Luna acquired signatures for a discharge petition from over 200 Democrats and 11 Republicans that would allow Colorado Rep. Brittany Pettersen’s (D) resolution on proxy voting for legislators seeking 12 weeks off in the case of a newborn child to be forced to the floor for consideration.

Luna’s fight included her resignation from the House Freedom Caucus which maintained staunch opposition to proxy voting of any kind as many voiced their frustration over the Florida lawmaker “hijacking” the House on a mission “to allow members to skip work and vote from home,” as Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R) stated in part.

The speaker said after Luna’s push, “Let me just make this clear — that rule being brought down means that we can’t have any further action on the floor this week. That means we will not be voting on the SAVE Act for election integrity.”

“We will not be voting on the rogue judges who are attacking President Trump’s agenda. We will not be taking down these terrible Biden policies with the CRA votes,” he went on. “All that was just wiped off the table. It’s very unfortunate. We’ll regroup and come back, and we’ll have to do this again.”

During the dispute, President Donald Trump made clear that, while he believed a new parent should be able to vote remotely, he left the decision on the rule up to Johnson.

Confirmation of the agreement came only two days after Johnson touted the president’s support and asserted, “Democrats tried proxy voting before and it was terribly abused. We cannot open that Pandora’s box again,” a position many on social media continued to espouse.

Kevin Haggerty
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