House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Friday released a memo announcing the House will pass a rule, upon its return to session, mandating fines for lawmakers.
The House is set to pass a rule to fine lawmakers who refuse to walk through the new metal detectors set up at each entrance to the chamber.
In a letter to House members on Friday, Pelosi said the change is necessary to ensure security in the Capitol in the wake of the Jan. 6 siege by supporters of then-President Donald Trump who tried to thwart the counting of electoral votes that made President Biden’s win official.
When the House returns to session, said Pelosi, a California Democrat, “we will pass a rule change mandating fines for Members who refuse to follow new screening protocols for the House Chamber. It is sad that this step is necessary, but the disrespectful and dangerous refusal of some Republican Members to adhere to basic safety precautions for our Congressional Community — including our Capitol Police — is unacceptable.”
U.S. Capitol Police set up the metal detectors off the House floor after the Capitol riot that left five people dead. But several Republican lawmakers scoffed at the idea, saying that the scanners would not have stopped the mob assault on the Capitol. Numerous GOP members walked around the metal detectors after the screeners were first installed. That caused Pelosi to order Capitol Police to block off the sides of the scanners with end tables and velvet ropes to force lawmakers to walk through the magnetometers.
Pelosi finally announced that lawmakers who avoided the metal detectors could be fined up to $10,000. A fine for a first violation will be $5,000. Further violations rise to $10,000.
