House Republicans revolt over floor mask rules

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• Several GOP House legislators on Tuesday resisted the existing mask-wearing mandate in the House.
• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA.) said last week that she would not lift the policy.
• The CDC released new guidance last week, lifting mask-wearing for fully vaccinated individuals.

Numerous GOP House members were in defiance against the House’s existing mask-wearing mandate amid the new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

On Tuesday, some Republican lawmakers declined to wear face masks while on the House floor, disregarding the policy set by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA.).

Two days prior, Pelosi loosened up the mask policy at the House where members can take off their face masks when speaking at the House floor.

During a House floor debate Tuesday, Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL.), who was maskless, was seated at the back of Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX.), who was speaking. Mast told Fox News that a House Sergeant at Arms staff member came to him because he was not wearing a mask. He said that he would not wear one, and was told that he would be subjected to a fine.

Mast was fined $500 following the violation, even though he was already fully vaccinated.

During a House vote later the same day, several GOP legislators with no masks engaged in a photo op shared by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA.) on Twitter.

“Masks are oppressive and nothing but a political tool. End the oppression!” the caption read.

In his interview with Fox News, Mast said that a Democratic legislator approached him and a bunch of GOP lawmakers who had no masks, saying that they should be ashamed.

“I can’t give you her name because she had a mask on,” he said. “I didn’t know exactly who she was, she was saying we should all be ashamed of ourselves and started yelling at us, and then told us all to get out of her face even though we weren’t really talking to her,” he continued. 

“Speaker Pelosi, in my opinion, only wants it done where people can see you on TV,” Mast said, pertaining to the mask policy in the House. He argued that face masks were not even required to be worn in any private meetings or elsewhere, nor in the House gyms.

In a letter addressed to Pelosi, over 30 GOP lawmakers, initiated by Rep. Bob Gibbs (OH.), asked that the House should return to normal voting process and abandon the mask-wearing mandate.

Asked if she would revise the mask-wearing protocol last week, in connection with the latest CDC guidance, Pelosi firmly rejected the idea, and asked if every House lawmaker had already taken the vaccine.

Last week, the CDC released new guidance stating that fully-vaccinated people may no longer need to wear face-masks in most situations. The White House has already lifted its mask mandate while in the Senate, there is no existing mask-wearing policy.

Source: Fox News