Senators consider proxy voting during coronavirus outbreak

Senators are looking into the possibility of voting on legislation remotely to minimize the risk of infection by the coronavirus.

The move would contradict a core tenet of Senate procedure, which says lawmakers must be physically present in the chamber when casting a vote. Proxy or long-distance voting has not been permitted before.

The longstanding rule requires senators to show up on Capitol Hill, giving them a chance to interact with colleagues, the press and constituents. But now lawmakers are talking about whether they could be considered present electronically instead of physically.

Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said he has discussed the matter with fellow senators, noting that Democrats like Sens. Amy Klobuchar (Minn.) and Brian Schatz (Hawaii) have explored the possibility.

“I’ve talked to colleagues about it. Sen. Klobuchar and Sen. Schatz have both looked into this,” Durbin responded when asked about implementing emergency voting procedures that wouldn’t require senators to be in the Capitol.

Klobuchar, the top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Rules Committee, and Schatz have been practicing aggressive social distancing since last week.

“It really gets down to some really fundamental questions about what does it mean to be present — quote, unquote — when you vote and whether or not we could establish a new standard for presence in voting and reflect new technology,” Durbin said Tuesday.

The Democratic whip said it would require “at least a rules change” and “maybe more” to allow senators to vote without showing up in the Capitol.

“It’s time for the Senate to get in the 21st century, and this is a public health intervention. We could have a terrorism intervention at some point in the future. We’ve got to be thinking ahead about how we would respond to that,” Durbin said.

Speaking on the Senate floor earlier in the day, Durbin urged his colleagues to think about changing the way of doing business to prevent the virus from spreading on Capitol Hill.

“We have to think anew about the way the Senate does business. If we’re telling people to do their work from home when possible, teleconferencing as opposed to being physically present at work, what are we doing to achieve the same thing?” he said.

Durbin suggested holding committee hearings over Skype or another video conferencing platform.

“Are we going to meet as committees as we ordinarily do in the same room when we’ve been advised that that is not a good idea from a public health viewpoint, or do it by teleconferencing and Skyping and using modern technology?” he added.

Updated at 11:35 a.m.