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House Democratic Majority Leader Steny Hoyer wrote to the
leaders of the House Rules and Administration committees urging
them to update congressional rules to allow votes using
videoconferencing technology.
Members of the House may be called back to Washington this week
to vote in person for the first time in weeks on a nearly $500
billion relief package to help Americans deal with the
coronavirus outbreak.
Following calls by President Donald Trump for states to reopen
despite the rising death toll, a handful of Trump's fellow
Republicans in Congress have been calling for lawmakers to
return to Washington sooner rather than later.
The House is expected to vote on a rule change when it returns
that would allow voting by proxy, but Hoyer's proposal would
take it further to allow remote votes and committee work.
"Our goal remains reopening the Capitol complex safely, but even
after the Capitol has reopened and Members have returned, there
will likely still be a need to make accommodations for the Floor
and in committees for some time to maintain the necessary social
distancing," Hoyer wrote.
The coronavirus outbreak has killed more than 42,000 Americans,
according to a Reuters tally, the highest number in the world,
and there are more than 750,000 cases.
(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
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