Story at a glance
- Three Republican lawmakers are facing fines for openly flouting House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s mandate requiring congressional members to wear face coverings on the House floor.
- The Washington Post reported that Reps. Brian Mast (Fla.), Mariannette Miller-Meeks (Iowa) and Beth Van Duyne (Texas) owe $500 in fines.
- Nearly a dozen Republicans defied Pelosi’s order during a vote on Tuesday, but the trio were fined because they also violated the rule once before.
Three Republican lawmakers face fines for openly flouting House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) mandate requiring congressional members to wear face coverings on the House floor.
The Washington Post reported that Reps. Brian Mast (Fla.), Mariannette Miller-Meeks (Iowa), and Beth Van Duyne (Texas), owe $500 in fines. Nearly a dozen Republicans defied Pelosi’s order during a vote on Tuesday, but the trio were fined after violating the rule for the second time. Seven GOP lawmakers were handed a first offense warning for their refusal to wear masks.
Pelosi just fined me $500 for not wearing a mask on the House floor despite @CDCgov saying it’s safe to take them off.
I fought & lost two legs defending our freedom from terrorists, so I certainly won’t let Pelosi take it away now!
Help me fight back: https://t.co/uuGZln463k
— Brian Mast (@BrianMastFL) May 19, 2021
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Pelosi, who instituted the mandate in 2020, decided last week she will require members and staff to continue wearing masks on the House floor, despite the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) guidance saying fully vaccinated people may gather indoors without them.
“If you are fully vaccinated, you can start doing the things that you had stopped doing because of the pandemic,” CDC Director Rochell Walensky said last Thursday. “We have all longed for this moment, when we can get back to some sense of normalcy.”
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But the speaker maintains she will not lift the mandate while 25 percent of the congressional body remains unvaccinated, the Post reported.
Meanwhile, other GOP lawmakers criticized face masks on Twitter as a partisan “political tool” using #FreeYourFace.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) took a selfie after the vote Tuesday along with Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), Rep. Mary E. Miller (R-Ill.) and Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) — all were without masks.
#FreeYourFace
Masks are oppressive and nothing but a political tool.
End the oppression! pic.twitter.com/EBvCtBpE6u— Marjorie Taylor Greene (@mtgreenee) May 18, 2021
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