House GOP Members Revolt After New CDC Guidance The Liberty Revolution(TheLibertyRevolution.com)- Speaker Nancy Pelosi has refused to thus far change the House’s rules in regards to mask wearing, and Republicans are having none of it
After the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released guidance last week that said fully vaccinated individuals could safely go without a mask both indoors and out, many states and places of business removed their mask mandates.
But, the House has been slow to follow suit, and has kept their mask mandate in place. Pelosi only relaxed the rules for wearing masks, allowing House members to take off their mask only when they were recognized by the Speaker to speak on the House floor.
Over in the upper chamber of Congress, the Senate has no mask rule. Earlier this week, Senators from both sides of the political aisle ditched their masks in light of the CDC’s new rules.
Even the White House has lifted its own requirement for people to wear masks. Fully vaccinated individuals are allowed to go without a mask in the White House. Pelosi, though, has decided to take a completely different route.
Earlier this week, a group of Republicans refused to follow the rules Pelosi set. At least one member of the GOP was threatened with a fine if they didn’t comply.
Florida Representative Brian Mast was approached by a staff member of the House Sergeant at Arms about why he wasn’t wearing a mask. Mast said he wouldn’t be wearing one, at which time the staff member he could face a fine for not doing so.
Ultimately, Mast was indeed levied a $500 fine for refusing to wear a mask. Mast has told Fox News that he is already fully vaccinated, and therefore wouldn’t need to wear a mask, according to the CDC’s new guidelines.
Later on Tuesday, several GOP House members could be seen without a mask. Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene even tweeted a selfie she took with three other maskless GOP representatives, writing:
“Masks are oppressive and nothing but a political tool. End the oppression! #FreeYourFace”
Mast said that he was further accosted by a Democrat on Tuesday, saying someone approached him and a group of Republicans who weren’t wearing a mask. She told the group they should be ashamed of themselves. As Mast said:
“I can’t give you her name because she had a mask on. 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.
“Speaker Pelosi, in my opinion, only wants it done where people can see you on TV.”
What Mast was referring to is the fact that face coverings are not required in private meetings, in the House gym or in any other areas of Congress.
Republican Representative Bob Gibbs, from Ohio, led a team of 30 GOP members of the House in urging Pelosi to return the chamber to normal voting procedures and also lift the mask mandate following the CDC’s guidance. He tweeted recently:
“The @CDCgov guidance today shows its (sic) time for Congress to practice what it preaches. There is no reason the House of Representatives should not be fully open and returned to normal operations. Enough with the Mark-erpiece Theater.”