© ReutersGOP members of the Committee on House Administration said Speaker Nancy Pelosi flouted her own rule on Feb. 5, 2021.
Hours after
The Post revealed that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
docked $5,000 each from the pay of two GOP congressmen for flouting her new metal detectors, a group of Republican pols demanded she pay the same fine for the same offense.
GOP members of the Committee on House Administration made the tit-for-tat demand Friday night, claiming Pelosi had been seen on Thursday entering the House Chamber without going through the metal detectors
she herself had ordered installed after the Jan. 6 Capitol
riot.
"Yesterday at approximately 9:59 a.m. multiple members observed the Speaker of the House entering the House Chamber without completing security screening," the members wrote to the House acting sergeant in arms.
"We are demanding she face the same fines as every other member of Congress," the GOP members of the committee tweeted Friday night, along with a copy of the letter.
Earlier Friday,
The Post reported that Reps. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) and Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) were the first House members hit with the dramatic fine, which is taken directly from their $174,000 salaries.
Gohmert said he will appeal.
He said that he usually complies with the metal detectors, but didn't on a single occasion after stepping out to use the bathroom.
"Unlike in the movie 'The Godfather,' there are no toilets with tanks where one could hide a gun, so my reentry onto the House floor should have been a non-issue," Gohmert said in a statement.
Comment: From the
New York Post's original
report:
The metal detectors were installed just outside the House chamber after Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) said she intended to bring a Glock onto the House floor.
That was shortly after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot during which supporters of then-President Donald Trump stormed the building and disrupted certification of President Biden's victory, leaving five dead.
New York Democratic Rep. Grace Meng tweeted last month: "This isn't really helpful in terms of potential future rioters but it's actually to help protect us from our own colleagues."
Some Republicans, including Reps. Chip Roy (R-Texas) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), said they would defy the metal detectors on principle because they believe the Constitution says lawmakers cannot be detained coming or going from the floor.
Roy and Massie, who both previously breezed through the detectors without stopping when they flashed red, were not among the first to face fines.
Pelosi separately imposed a $500 fine last month for legislators who don't wear face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic. A second offense costs $2,500. That rule brought into quick compliance a group of conservative Republicans who had declined to wear masks on the House floor.
Nan is making it clear the Capitol Building no longer houses a '
Congress'', but is now a personal fiefdom.
Comment: From the New York Post's original report: Nan is making it clear the Capitol Building no longer houses a 'Congress'', but is now a personal fiefdom.