Texas Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert and Georgia Republican Rep. Andrew Clyde plan to appeal a $5,000 fine docked from their pay for not complying with new metal detectors placed outside of the House floor entrances, they said.
“Since I had been complying with the metal detector requirement despite the Constitutional issue, I was surprised to receive a notice today stating that I had not complied with their policy and that I would be fined $5,000,” Gohmert said in a statement. “I will be appealing the fine and taking whatever action is necessary, especially considering this policy is unconstitutional.”
The Texas Republican claims he stepped off the House floor into the Speaker’s Lobby, a hallway room adjacent to the floor, to go to the restroom. When he attempted to return to the floor, a U.S. Capitol Police Officer attempted to scan him after he had already been scanned.
Gohmert argued, “I explained to the Capitol Police officer that I had never been required to be screened again from the restroom immediately by the House floor since the metal detectors had been in place at the other doors. I said they had witnessed me walk the few feet to the men’s room, enter and take the few steps back. No one ever mentioned or made that a requirement until yesterday.”
He noted, “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.”
The new magnetometers, first imposed on House lawmakers by Speaker Nancy Pelosi in the wake of the Capitol attacks, have become an issue of consternation between Republicans and Democrats as long lines to get onto the floor form. Maryland Republican Rep. Andy Harris was turned away from entering the House chamber after Capitol Police found he was carrying a concealed firearm onto the floor.
Clyde told Laura Ingraham Friday night on Fox News, “Well, you know, this is a constitutional issue. Those metal detectors are there to detain, and that’s a violation of Article 1, Section 6 of the Constitution.”
“You know, we’re going to the House floor to vote, we represent 700,000 people in our districts. And the Constitution says that we cannot be impeded when we go the floor to vote,” he continued.
The Georgia Republican added, “I’m gonna fight it. I’m going to appeal it. And then, I’m going to take them to court because this is unconstitutional. We’re all set up to do that, but I had to have standing.”
Both Gohmert and Clyde are the first lawmakers to be hit with fines. They face the fines doubling to $10,000 if they violate the new rules in place again.
