Washington DC - House Speaker Mike Johnson recently had an embarrassing moment after the Republican Party refused to get behind his effort to kill a bill to assist new parents in Congress.

Republican Representative Anna Paulina Luna of Florida has been working closely with Democratic Rep. Brittany Pettersen of Colorado to pass legislation that would allow members to proxy vote for 12 weeks following the birth of a new child.

Luna managed to get 218 signatures for a discharge petition aimed at pushing the bill to a vote but, in an unprecedented move, Johnson created a rule to block the vote from happening.

According to The New York Times, however, nine Republicans voted alongside all Democrats against Johnson's measure on Tuesday which kept the proposal alive.

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Afterward, Johnson canceled votes for the rest of the week and sent members home.

He later told CNN anchor Manu Raju, "The rule being brought down means we cannot have any further action on the floor this week."

"We will not be voting on the SAVE act... not be voting on the rogue judges that are attacking President [Donald Trump's] agenda, we will not be taking down these terrible Biden policies," he added.

The bill proposal has been causing tons of infighting among Republican house members since it was first introduced over a year ago.

While Luna has described her effort as a "modest, family-centered proposal," Johnson and his allies have regularly argued that proxy voting of any kind is unacceptable and unconstitutional, insisting that members should always be required to be present on the job.

Congressman Steve Scalise of Louisiana told CNN that despite Johnson's motion being blocked, they will soon try another way to kill Luna's proposal.