House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Wednesday that the House plans to adopt new rules by charging members fines for refusing to pass newly installed metal detectors on US Capitol Hill or refusing to obey security after the attack. last week’s deadly.
The fines – $ 5,000 for the first time and $ 10,000 for the second – will take effect when the House returns to the session on January 21 and will be withdrawn from members’ payments, a press release from the speaker’s office said.
Pelosi in a statement said he expressed his “deepest gratitude to the United States Capitol Police for the amount they showed” during the pro-Trump rebellion and said that some Republicans “disrespected our heroes by verbally abusing them and refusing to adhere to the basic precautions “when they refused to pass through metal detectors.
She added that new security changes are needed to keep those working on Capitol, including the Capitol police, safe.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., An ally of President Donald Trump, passes through a metal detector before entering the Chamber of Deputies, a new security measure put in place after a mob broke into the Capitol in Washington , Tuesday, January 12, 2021. (AP Photo / J. Scott Applewhite)
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The speaker said it is “tragic that this step is necessary”.
Several Republicans refused to comply with the procedure this week, while others complained to Capitol security and House Democrats that security measures were in place without adequate notice or consultation.
In a heated meeting, House Management Classification Member Rodney Davis, R-Ill., Exchanged harsh words with the Capitol Police, as well as with the House majority leader, Steny Hoyer, D-Md.
Davis was furious after security blocked access to a staircase near the speaker’s lobby, which is normally open to members.
“Steny, this is bulls —” said Davis.
“Rodney, we are all examining the magnetometers. All of us,” said Hoyer in response as Davis argued with the officer.
Congressman Chip Roy, R-Tx., Was one of the House Republicans who chose not to go through metal detectors.
“The metal detection policy for the floor of the Chamber is unnecessary, unconstitutional and endangers members,” Roy said in a statement about the incident. “I didn’t do it tonight. I won’t do it in the future.”
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Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colorado, who campaigned for her commitment to the Second Amendment and defended her right to be armed on Capitol Hill, refused to hand over her bag when the metal detector went off. She was eventually allowed into the House chamber.
“We didn’t need any more metal detectors when we were locked in the Chambers on the 6th,” she wrote on Twitter later.
Democrats criticized Republicans for their challenge.
“Don’t these people understand that literally everyone has to go through metal detectors to get in here?” Deputy Don Beyer, D-Va., Tweeted. “Ordinary people don’t bring guns to the United States Capitol in normal times. Get over it.”
In a tweet addressed to House minority leader Kevin McCarthy, Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., Wrote that everyone will be required to pass through metal detectors in Biden’s possession “, including members of the Republican Party who believe they are not they need to hear law enforcement. Are you going to ensure that members of your convention will go through metal detectors at the opening? “
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Timothy P. Blodgett, the chamber’s acting weapons sergeant, told members in a memo on Tuesday that they would have to go through metal detectors.
House Democrats also imposed a new rule on Tuesday, fining members $ 500 for not wearing a mask in the House floor.
Thomas Barrabi of Fox News contributed to this report.