Florida Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna wrote in a letter on Monday that she was leaving the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus amid reports that members of the group were looking to squash her efforts to let new parents vote by proxy.
Earlier this month, Luna had successfully garnered 218 signatures on a document called a discharge petition needed to force a vote on a bipartisan resolution that would allow a House member to vote by proxy if they or their spouse has given birth in the last 12 weeks. Proxy voting allows lawmakers to designate another member to vote on their behalf.
However, members of the House Freedom Caucus had reportedly urged leadership to kill the effort, proposing that the threshold of support needed for a discharge petition be raised. The caucus has roughly 35 members and it includes high-profile Republican firebrands such as Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio and Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado.
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