The House is finally moving forward with remote voting

Two months into the coronavirus pandemic, the House is ready to decide if it's ready for remote voting.

As it stands, it takes a unanimous vote to get anything through the House of Representatives without calling a quorum of congressmembers into Washington, D.C. — even one dissenter can bring down the whole vote. The House Rules Committee has repeatedly discussed moving to allow remote voting throughout the pandemic, and will finally take action on that idea this Thursday.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) told the House on Monday that there would be a vote on the next phase of the CARES Act and on a rules change to facilitate remote work no earlier than this Friday. And on Tuesday, the House Rules Committee confirmed it would consider a rules change to allow remote voting before a full floor vote on Friday. House members would still have to come in for the remote work vote, as well as a vote on Democrats' next relief phase.

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Talk of allowing remote voting started before the House passed the first coronavirus stimulus bill, known as the CARES Act. It eventually passed by voice vote because the House Rules Committee decided at the time it would be too ambitious to institute remote voting so quickly. Another push for remote voting ahead of an additional coronavirus relief bill, this one in late April, was also put off after Republicans opposed the idea.