Rep. Brittany Pettersen, D-Colorado, carried her newborn son on the floor of the House on Tuesday to vote against the Republicans' budget proposal.
Pettersen expressed her frustration in an X post about traveling across the country to vote just weeks after giving birth.
"Republican leadership may have denied my ability to vote by proxy but that didn’t stop us from voting against this disastrous budget that strips away health care and food for seniors, veterans, kids and families across Colorado — all to give tax breaks to billionaires like Elon Musk," she said.
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Tuesday's vote was approved by a 217-215 margin, but its passage with a slim GOP advantage was uncertain.
Pettersen's vote could have been pivotal had any of the 217 Republicans decided to vote against the measure.
Under then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, proxy voting was implemented during the onset of the pandemic to limit travel to and from Washington. Even as the effects of the pandemic waned, the Pelosi-led House continued using proxy voting, which allowed members to vote without coming to Washington.
When Republicans gained a majority of seats following the 2022 election, proxy voting was eliminated, requiring members to once again show up in person to vote.
There have been bipartisan efforts, however, to restore remote voting for new parents. Pettersen was among a group of lawmakers who introduced a resolution that would allow parents with children younger than 12 weeks to vote via proxy. The resolution would also allow pregnant members to proxy vote if a pregnancy-related medical condition prevents travel.
