Should House members who vote by proxy be investigated for perjury?

Orlando FL

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It’s a crime to lie to Congress, even when not under oath. Proxy voting was authorized in May 2020 even after Nancy Pelosi said there were “serious constitutional, technological and security concerns”, and she was right, but allowed it anyway. Soon after that, Charlie Crist and Darren Soto voted by proxy to attend a rocket launch. Republicans had warned that proxy voting would be abused, and it is being abused by both Democrats and Republicans. Here are a few examples: 1. Today, Gerry Connolly and Don Beyer, who represent Northern Virginia, signed letters saying they were “unable to physically attend proceedings in the House chamber due to the ongoing public health emergency”, but were able to physically attend the grand opening of the DC Metro silver line expansion to Dulles airport. 2. Fredrica Wilson, who rarely shows up to vote in person, attended a congressional picnic at the White House. 3. Donald Payne, who also rarely votes in person says he uses proxy voting because he has diabetes, which could put him at serious risk if he gets COVID-19, but he attended a NCAA tournament basketball game. 4. On July 29, the last day before August recess, over 120 members voted by proxy. 5. The House returned on August 12 to vote on the “Inflation Reduction Act”. Members were warned of the possibility of coming back for a special session, but over 150 of them didn’t show up, including Cindy Axne who was on vacation with her family in France. Katie Porter, who often votes by proxy, was planning on traveling to DC to vote but claimed her flight was cancelled. I did not see any flights between the LA and DC areas cancelled in the days before the vote. 6. On days when members arrive and leave Washington, (commonly known as fly-in and fly-out days), it is not uncommon to have 100 or more proxy voters. Every time I refresh the page where proxy letters are posted, another letter is posted. 7. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez voted by proxy one day after campaigning for someone running for mayor of New York City. 8. Tim Ryan regularly voted by proxy while he was running for Senate. He was defeated but still votes by proxy and claims it should be allowed permanently. 9. Kai Kahele was proxy voting while working part-time as an airline pilot. 10. Several representatives from Florida proxy voted during Hurricane Ian, even those whose districts weren’t hit by the hurricane. It’s supposed to be used for the “ongoing public health emergency”, NOT a weather emergency. Nancy Pelosi recently unilaterally extended proxy voting for the 19th (and likely final) time. Even though she had constitutional concerns, the Supreme Court refused to block it. Kevin McCarthy has vowed to eliminate it and January 3 can’t come soon enough. I suspect that’s why so many Democrats decided to retire.