U.S. Representatives in Colorado react after President Trump shows support for their ability to vote remotely

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - U.S. Representatives are reacting after President Donald Trump showed support for a bill that would allow Congress members to vote remotely.

The issue gained traction when Congresswoman Brittany Pettersen - who represents a large portion of Colorado, including Teller, Fremont, and Chaffee counties - brought her newborn baby to the Capitol to vote on a budget bill in February.

We spoke with Rep. Pettersen at the time, who said she thinks it's important to allow new parents in Congress to vote remotely (also known as proxy voting). She believes the strict rules against it deter parents from participating in Congress, therefore minimizing diversity in our government.

"The system was not built for us. It’s historically been much older, wealthy retired men," she said in an interview with KRDO Friday. "If we want to change what we’re seeing at the federal level, we have to change the voices that are there, and part of that is addressing the system of barriers [so] that the people who are so underrepresented in Washington have a greater opportunity to actually get there and stay there."

The push would allow new parents to vote by proxy for up to 12 weeks around the birth of a baby.

Rep. Pettersen was part of a group of lawmakers who filed a discharge petition after Speaker Johnson initially blocked efforts to allow new parents in Congress to vote remotely. Last month, they received the 218 signatures they need to send the issue to the House floor for a vote.

Earlier this week, nine House Republicans voted against House Speaker Mike Johnson's plan to block proxy voting for new parents. While it was enough to shoot down the Speaker's efforts, it still shows that the majority of Republicans are currently against proxy voting.

"I like the idea," President Trump said in an interview Thursday. "If you're having a baby, I think you should be able to call in and vote."

However, the President said he's "going to let the Speaker make the decision."

"America is grateful to have a President who appreciates and understands the complexity of legislative branch issues and governing with a razor-thin House majority," said Speaker Mike Johnson in a post on X Friday. "Democrats tried proxy voting before, and it was terribly abused. We cannot open that Pandora’s box again."

We contacted Republican Congress members who represent Colorado to get their take on the latest developments involving proxy voting. We're still waiting to hear back. We'll update this article as soon as we get a response.