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House Speaker Mike Johnson’s recent outburst over a bipartisan bill to allow proxy voting for members on parental leave has thrown a spotlight on the growing tensions within the Republican Party.
Johnson, known for his unapologetically conservative views, recently demonstrated how the GOP’s so-called “pro-family” stance doesn’t extend to actual policies that would help working parents — especially women.
This latest fiasco began when Johnson attempted to block a proposal that would allow representatives to vote remotely when on parental leave, a change that would have made it easier for parents with newborns to continue their duties while also fulfilling their responsibilities at home.
However, despite Johnson’s efforts to prevent it, the bill passed after nine Republicans crossed the aisle to join Democrats. The outcome set off a chain reaction of frustration, culminating in Johnson canceling all congressional activity for the week and sending members home.
In the wake of this, many have been quick to point out the hypocrisy of the Republican Party, which has long claimed to be the party of family values. Yet when it came time to make life easier for parents, Johnson and his allies balked.
This is not the first time the GOP’s "pro-family" rhetoric has been questioned. Instead of supporting policies that truly benefit families, the party’s actions increasingly seem to revolve around pushing women out of the workforce and back into traditional roles.
The clash over the proxy vote is revealing, not just because of the outrage it caused among Republicans, but because it shows a fundamental disconnect between the GOP's rhetoric and its actions. While Republicans continue to tout themselves as the party that supports traditional families, their refusal to allow basic accommodations for parents in Congress reveals a different story.
Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) summed up the GOP’s actions with a simple yet biting remark: "Given the chance to actually support families, they turn their backs." His criticism struck at the heart of the issue: the GOP talks about being a pro-family party, but when presented with a policy that would help new parents—especially mothers—balance work and home life, they rejected it outright.
Johnson’s opposition to the proxy voting bill has drawn sharp criticism, especially considering that he himself voted by proxy multiple times during the COVID-19 pandemic, a period when he found it acceptable to use remote voting to protect his own health.
Yet, when it comes to parents needing time to care for their newborns, Johnson has decided that it’s “unconstitutional” to allow the same right.
Johnson’s opposition to the parental leave bill is not just about voting logistics — it’s part of a larger pattern of the GOP’s reluctance to support working mothers. For years, the party has marketed itself as “pro-family”, but when it comes time to translate that rhetoric into policies that help women and families, the GOP falls short.
One of the most vocal proponents of the proxy vote bill was Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), a new mother who has experienced the challenges of being a working parent firsthand.
She spoke during the debate about the importance of allowing female members to vote while balancing parental duties, emphasizing that "the importance of female members having a vote in Washington, D.C." was something worth supporting.
Yet, her position was in the minority within her own party, underscoring the gender divide that continues to shape the GOP’s attitude toward working women.
For many, Johnson’s refusal to support this bill represents a larger issue: the Republican Party is increasingly aligned with a vision of family life where women stay at home and men are the breadwinners.
This vision, particularly championed by the Trump-aligned GOP, is central to what has been dubbed Project 2025, which seeks to return the U.S. to a time when women’s roles were defined by domesticity, not leadership.
Johnson’s actions are consistent with a broader GOP trend toward limiting women’s involvement in public life. As the party becomes more influenced by religious conservatives and the far-right, its policies increasingly reflect a desire to push women out of politics and into traditional family roles.
In recent years, the GOP has doubled down on policies that push women out of the workforce, including advocating for limited access to childcare and paid family leave. These moves are in stark contrast to the policies of many other developed nations, which offer robust support for working parents.
The GOP’s rhetoric about family values rings hollow when viewed against these policies. Republican leaders continue to dismantle programs that help families, while celebrating a narrow vision of what family life should look like.
According to David Graham, writing in The Atlantic, the Trump-era GOP’s approach to family values has become an attempt to reinstate traditional gender roles, where men work and women stay home.
This controversy over the proxy vote is also linked to a larger GOP revolt against the work-from-home culture that flourished during the COVID-19 pandemic. Under President Trump, one of the first orders issued when he returned to office was to force federal workers back to their offices, dismissing the work-from-home culture as inefficient and unproductive.
Trump and his allies have criticized remote work for allowing employees to be “too comfortable”, accusing them of not being truly productive.
For many Republican lawmakers, this sentiment reflects a deeper ideological commitment to the idea that work is only legitimate when done in a physical office.
Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-Texas), one of the few Republicans to support the parental leave bill, attempted to argue that fathers also have a role to play at home, pointing out how he regretted leaving a sick child behind in the hospital to fulfill his congressional duties.
But in the increasingly rigid gender politics of the MAGA-fied GOP, even caring for a sick child is viewed as women’s work, not something for men to handle.
This view is also evident in the Project 2025 blueprint, where Republicans outline plans to limit the role of women in the workforce and enforce a traditional family structure. This includes pushing women out of political power and relegating them to roles as stay-at-home wives and mothers, a vision that contradicts the reality many women face today.
This debate highlights the paradox that female Republicans are facing in the current political climate. Women in the party are often forced to choose between their political ambitions and their roles within traditional family structures.
Female Republican politicians have often leaned into a “tradwife” aesthetic, hoping that presenting themselves as submissive and domestically focused will align with the party’s core values.
Senator Katie Britt of Alabama is a prime example of this struggle. Last year, during the State of the Union response, Britt spoke in a tone that was widely mocked as a “fundie baby voice”, trying to appear like a traditional wife while simultaneously navigating her political career.
The contradictions between her role as a Republican woman seeking power and the party’s traditionalist ideals were clear — she can hold office, but only if she continues to present herself in a way that conforms to outdated gender roles.
As Republican women are pushed further into these restrictive roles, they are also disempowered by the very party they support. The push to limit women’s rights, especially around reproductive issues, and the ongoing efforts to restrict voting rights for married women, show that the GOP’s commitment to “family values” is not just about supporting families — it’s about keeping women in their place.
The proxy vote debacle is just the latest example of how gender politics in the GOP is becoming more rigid. With MAGA figures leading the charge, the Republican Party is embracing a vision of the future that limits women’s autonomy and reinforces traditional family structures.
The reaction to the proxy vote bill is part of a larger cultural battle within the GOP — one where men dominate politics, and women are expected to focus on their domestic duties.
As the 2024 election cycle heats up, Republicans are likely to face increasing pushback from women voters who are frustrated with the party’s failure to support policies that help working families. The debate over proxy voting has become a microcosm of the GOP’s larger struggle to reconcile its political ambitions with its outdated gender politics.
