Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) took to social media Monday to rail against a proposed rules change in the House.
House Republicans have proposed fining members, including Swalwell, for holding a June sit-in to push for action on gun control legislation.
In two tweets Monday, Swalwell wrote that leadership can “fine me” and other Democrats “all the way into bankruptcy for #gunviolence sit-in, but we will always speak for victims.”
Fox News’s Chad Pergram tweeted Monday that Republicans have proposed fining members who used their phones on the floor to broadcast the protest, in violation of House rules.
Democrats used live-streaming apps to broadcast their action after C-SPAN’s cameras, controlled by the chamber, were turned off. Republicans argued that they would not air the protest because the House was not in session at the time.
Democrats could be fined $500 each, Pergram noted, and would be referred to the Ethics Committee. The proposed rule change would also prevent members from blocking the well of the House, as Democrats did over the summer.
The full House would have to approve the changes when the new session of Congress begins in January.