House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced Thursday the Speaker’s Lobby would reopen next week on a limited capacity basis.
PELOSI: TOO DANGEROUS TO REMOVE HOUSE CHAMBER METAL DETECTORS
The long corridor that sits parallel to the floor of the House chamber has been closed to press and even lawmakers since the beginning of the pandemic, when congressional leadership sought ways to prevent mass gatherings in tight areas.
However, the COVID-19 restrictions and protocols around the Capitol have progressively been eased after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance was updated following the release of the vaccines.
Press access to the lobby will resume on Tuesday evening, but only one reporter per media outlet at a time will be allowed inside the Speaker’s Lobby.
Credentialed press will be mandated to pass through U.S. Capitol Police security screening when entering the Speaker’s Lobby, as all lawmakers are also required to do before they enter the floor from the lobby’s entrance.
Magnetometers are also stationed at the entrances of the Capitol complex building, which all staff, press, and visitors must walk through but lawmakers are exempted from.
Pelosi ordered the metal detectors installed after the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, and her Democratic majority passed a measure fining any lawmaker who breached the protocols thousands of dollars.
The California Democrat told reporters at her weekly press conference that despite a lawsuit on the metal detectors filed by two Republicans facing those fines, she has no plans to remove them any time soon.
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“As long as there is a threat, we’ll have to have protection,” she said.
