Truancy is now Congress’ forte 

It’s no secret that Congress’ approval rating is in the gutter. A recent Gallup poll revealed that only 20 percent of Americans approve of the way Congress is handling its job while 75 percent disapproved. With the way Democrats have been running things, I’m surprised it isn’t zero. 

Today’s House Rules Committee Member Day is focused on assessing the results and challenges of remote proceedings – conveniently glossing over the abysmal failures that have been created through their use. Remote hearings have done more to create an echo chamber and promote partisanship than any other congressional rule. One could argue that in-person collaboration has become relic of a bygone era. 

Congress has created a greater reliance on staff and communication through chat boxes instead of working side by side to find solutions to difficult challenges. This overreliance on technology, in lieu of engaging with our colleagues and staff in person, has robbed us of both time and substantive collaboration. Chat boxes are no substitute for true deliberative government. 

When it comes to committee work-week schedules, inefficiency still reigns supreme. How can constituents be served efficiently if members are tethered to both hearings and district events during those weeks? 

Committee work weeks compete against district work periods making it incredibly difficult for members to fulfil one of their most important duties – representation. If members can’t engage with constituents, how can they be expected to carry out this critical responsibility? It’s purely nonsensical. 

We should respect the committee process so we can do the jobs our constituents entrusted us to uphold. 

Which brings me to one of the worst House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) inventions – proxy voting. 

What is more asinine than a member using proxy voting to vote present? That would be Democrats holding a hearing to celebrate proxy voting. 

Congress is still leaning on proxy voting like a crutch when it should be eradicated entirely. The argument that has been beaten like a dead horse since the inception of proxy voting is that we are facing unprecedented circumstances, and that proxy voting is the most viable avenue we can take. But history, and precedent most importantly, say otherwise. 

Congress has never resorted to proxy voting in its history. Not when the Capitol was burned to the ground in the War of 1812. Not during the Civil War. Not during the Spanish flu outbreak in 1918. Not even after the horrific Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. 

And yet today many members of Congress are still refusing to show up for work. This is unacceptable. 

We’d better get our act together if we’re to truly govern and deliver for the citizens we represent. If we don’t, then truancy might as well be considered Congress’ forte from here on out. That’s not an accolade that anyone can hang their hat on with pride. 

U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx represents North Carolina’s 5th District and is the Republican leader of the House Committee on Education and Labor.