Rep. Kai Kahele (D-HI) has a chronic allergy to Capitol Hill, if a Monday analysis of his House voting record by Honolulu Civil Beat is anything to go by. Kahele has only been present in Washington, D.C., for five of 120 votes cast in 2022—relying on his colleagues to cast his vote via proxy for the other 115. His burst of in-person productivity, the Civil Beat reported, all occurred over three days in January, and he hasn’t been back to the Capitol since. Kahele, who assumed congressional office in January last year, had only voted by proxy 49 times prior to December, with “most” of those votes happening during a period of historic flooding in his state, according to the Civil Beat. The outlet also noted that the congressman has continued to work as a Hawaiian Airlines pilot. A spokesperson for Kahele told Politico on Monday that the congressman still pilots “occasional flights to maintain his certification,” though on a “drastically reduced schedule.” The same spokesperson told Civil Beat that Kahele was “not available” for comment on his voting record.
