U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson and Florida Representative Anna Paulina Luna struck a deal this weekend to avoid a floor vote that likely would have changed the chamber’s rules and given new parents the ability to vote by proxy for 12 weeks.

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Johnson and Luna, both Republicans, plan to use “vote pairing” — where two members on opposite sides of an issue agree to cancel out each other’s votes, typically because one lawmaker cannot make it to the floor to vote — rather than move forward with a bipartisan proposal to allow new parents to vote remotely.

The deal represented progress for Johnson, who saw the issue torpedo the House agenda last week, though Democrats weren’t on board as of Monday.

“Speaker Johnson and I have reached an agreement and are formalizing a procedure called ‘live/dead pairing’—dating back to the 1800s—for the entire conference to use when unable to physically be present to vote: new parents, bereaved, emergencies,” Luna posted on social media.

While GOP lawmakers could pair with other members of their own party if they planned to vote differently on a bill, the plan would likely need Democratic buy-in to work on party-line votes.

Democrats disappointed

Colorado Representative Brittany Pettersen and California Representative Sara Jacobs, both Democrats, issued statements expressing disappointment with Luna for no longer pushing forward with the discharge petition that was set to force a floor vote this week on the rule change.

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“When Speaker Johnson refused to bring our resolution to the floor for a vote — regardless of how many Members supported it — we followed the rules and tried to force a vote by filing a discharge petition and received the necessary signatures to bring it forward,” Pettersen wrote. “Instead of letting us vote, he has instead gone to historic lengths to kill our resolution and make sure the large majority of his Members don’t have a voice. Let’s be clear: these changes are not a win for us and Speaker Johnson has turned his back on moms and dads in Congress and working families.”

Jacobs wrote the agreement Johnson and Luna reached wouldn’t “support new parents so they can do their jobs and vote on behalf of their constituents while also taking care of themselves and their families.”

“I won’t accept the way Congress has always done things, and the American people won’t either,” Jacobs wrote. “We will keep pushing for innovative ways to support young people and parents in Congress – including by modernizing how we vote – even if it takes a Democratic majority to do so.”

Jacobs, Luna, Pettersen and their allies from both parties were able to defeat a maneuver from Johnson last week that would have set aside their discharge petition. In response to the defeat, Johnson sent the House home for the week on Tuesday.

Floor vote avoided

Had Luna and Johnson not struck a deal this weekend, House rules would have allowed her to force a floor vote this week on the bipartisan Proxy Voting for New Parents Resolution.

The discharge petition to bring it up for a vote held signatures from 218 House members, indicating it had the support needed to change the chamber’s rules.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said during a press conference Monday that he “hadn’t had the opportunity to fully evaluate this proposal and/or talk with Representative Pettersen or Representative Sarah Jacobs, who have been the leaders of this effort on our side.”

“And so I’m going to refrain from commenting on the proposal until I’ve had those conversations and the opportunity to review this so-called agreement,” Jeffries said, before adding he didn’t understand why so many GOP lawmakers were opposed to allowing proxy voting for new parents.

“The question has to be raised: What is the Republican problem with allowing expectant mothers or new mothers to vote on behalf of their constituents?” Jeffries asked. “This seems like a very strange hill for them to die on legislatively.”