Rep. Tim Ryan Abuses COVID Proxy Voting Rule to Hit Campaign Trail

UNITED STATES - MAY 11: Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, attends the House Appropriations Subcommitt
Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via Getty Images
Jacob Bliss

Ohio U.S. Senate candidate Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) skipped in-person voting in the House of Representatives on Wednesday “due to the ongoing public health emergency” but attended in-person campaign events in Ohio on the same day.

Ryan wrote in a letter to the Clerk of the House on Tuesday that he would be “unable to physically attend proceedings in the House Chamber due to the ongoing public health emergency” and allowed Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) to vote on his behalf.

And on Wednesday, Beyer voted for Ryan twice, for Roll Call vote 303 and Roll Call vote 304, while he claimed to be “unable” to attend “due to the ongoing public health emergency.”

However, Ryan tweeted pictures from multiple events on Wednesday, the same day Beyer proxy voted for him:

At 10:58 a.m. ET, he tweeted a picture of himself meeting constituents at a coffee shop in Portage County.

At 2:03 p.m. ET, he appeared to post a video from the campaign trail to talk about the inflation numbers, hours after they were actually released.

Wednesday morning, the June CPI numbers recorded an annual rate of 9.1 percent, which was higher than the 8.8 percent expected by analysts. Americans have been hit by the rising prices of everyday necessities like food, gasoline, housing, transportation, and utilities.

At 3:09 p.m. ET, he touted a solar company and thanked them for a tour; additionally, he claimed that it’s “exactly the kind of company we need more of in Ohio.”

And at 7:18 p.m. ET, he tweeted a picture of what looked like a campaign rally. He noted, “We need to bring back the value of respect.” He also stated that the PRO Act needs to pass. Breitbart News previously reported on the negative effects of the Pro Act:

In the event that workers vote not to join a union, the PRO Act allows the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to set aside the results if an employer is found to have interfered in any way. The union will then immediately become certified if “a majority of the employees in the bargaining unit have signed authorizations designating the labor organization as their collective bargaining representative” in the year preceding the election.

This isn’t the first time Ryan has done something like this. Ryan reportedly has a long track record of abusing the proxy voting system and using the coronavirus pandemic as an excuse to waste taxpayer resources.

The Washington Free Beacon reported in February that Ryan was fundraising in Los Angeles during the Super Bowl:

Rep. Tim Ryan (D., Ohio), who has proxy voted 60 times, was in Los Angeles fundraising for his U.S. Senate campaign the day after the Super Bowl.  If elected, he wouldn’t have the benefit of proxy voting—the Senate does not allow proxy voting.

The Free Beacon also reported in April that Ryan spent tens of thousands of dollars on rent with taxpayer-funded money but kept his Ohio constituent office closed during the coronavirus pandemic. He still campaigned in person:

In Ohio, congressman Tim Ryan, who is running for Senate, had his in-district office closed. He spent $81,957.91 on rent-related costs last year. Despite Ryan keeping his Ohio office closed, he says he is running a campaign based on looking “people in the eye, tell[ing] them I give a damn about them.” Even though his constituent office was closed, Ryan told local reporters that he is busy campaigning in-person.

“We’re going to see people everywhere, meeting them and learning about their communities and what the opportunities are in these communities,” Ryan said last month.

…

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) recently extended proxy voting in the House, which a Free Beacon analysis confirmed is regularly abused by Democratic members of Congress who claim they need proxy voters due to the coronavirus while they travel the country for political fundraisers and events with Biden. According to the Free Beacon analysis, Ryan proxy-voted dozens of times while he held in-person campaign events across Ohio.

In response to Ryan abusing his proxy voting privileges in the House, his opponent, Trump-endorsed Republican Senate candidate J.D. Vance, hammered him in a statement.

“Tim Ryan has spent 20 years in Washington, DC living off the taxpayers’ dime, while accomplishing nothing except renaming a few buildings,” Vance stated. “It’s bad enough that he’s refusing to show up to work, but it’s truly disgraceful that he’s lying to Ohioans about why he’s not showing up for it. This career politician fraud doesn’t deserve a promotion in November, he deserves a pink slip.”

Jacob Bliss is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jbliss@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter @JacobMBliss.

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.