Rep. Charlie Crist (D-FL) said he was unable to sign up for Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) proxy voting scheme on Wednesday, citing health concerns, yet flagged his plan to attend the NASA and SpaceX shuttle launch on the same day.
Crist sent a letter to Cheryl Johnson, the clerk of the House of Representatives on Wednesday, granting Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-FL), the ability to vote for him by proxy.
In the letter, Crist said he is “unable to physically attend proceedings in the House Chamber due to the ongoing public health emergency.”
On the same da, Crist said he is unable to attend a planned vote for the FISA reauthorization, Crist announced he is “looking forward to attending today’s historic manned SpaceX launch to @Space_Station.”
Crist even exclaimed, “Huge step for space exploration and Florida!”
Crist said in a statement ahead of the planned Florida space launch:
This is a watershed moment for American space exploration, and Florida’s space program. For the first time ever, we’ll be sending up on a commercially-made spacecraft, and we’re doing it from Florida — cementing our state’s starring role in human space exploration. This represents the culmination of a lot of hard work by a lot of people, capping the return of Florida’s Space Coast to international prominent.
House Republicans launched a lawsuit against Pelosi’s proxy voting scheme, charging the policy violates the Constitution and grants the majority party, or the Democrats, so much power that is ripe for abuse.
Mark Bednar, a spokesman for House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), noted the apparent hypocrisy between Crist’s inability to vote in Congress and his enthusiasm for attending Wednesday’s initially planned space launch.
Bednar said, “He says he’s “unable to physically attend proceedings in the House Chamber due to the ongoing health emergency.”
He added, “But he was sure excited to attend the space launch today in Florida!”
Sean Moran is a congressional reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.