Republican Rep. Andrew Clyde is planning a legal challenge to the “unconstitutional” requirement that members pass through metal detectors in order to gain access to the House floor.
The Georgia congressman said on Monday that he will take his case against the measure to federal court following an announcement by the House Ethics Committee that it rejected Clyde’s appeal to avoid fines he incurred for refusing to pass through a metal detector on two occasions in February.
“I recently learned that the formal appeal of my fines incurred as a result of refusing to comply with Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s unconstitutional placement of metal detectors at the entrance to the floor of the House of Representatives was rejected,” Clyde said in a statement. “This now provides the legal standing which I needed to challenge this unconstitutional resolution.”
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Capitol Police set up new metal detectors near the House floor as a security measure following the Jan. 6 riot. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi subsequently ordered Capitol Police to move the magnetometers closer to the entrances of the House floor to force members to enter through them, angering House Republicans. The passage of House Resolution 73 on Feb. 2 then authorized the sergeant-at-arms to impose fines on those who fail to complete the screening.
Clyde was fined twice under H.R. 73 after failing to comply, which he said he did deliberately with the intention of turning the requirement into a legal challenge.
“I did that so we would have legal standing to take the case to federal court, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do,” Clyde told Fox News in March.
Clyde appealed the fines imposed on him to the House Ethics Committee, which H.R. 73 tasks with managing appeals. The committee announced on Monday that a majority of the panel did not agree to Clyde’s appeal.
Clyde argued that H.R. 73 violates the Constitution and that fines have been applied unequally. A number of Republicans on the House Administration Committee alleged that Pelosi failed to pass through a security screening as required on Feb. 4 and demanded that the sergeant-at-arms, who is tasked with imposing fines for noncompliance under H.R. 73, fine the California Democrat.
“While my team and I continue to await an announcement of a fine levied on the Speaker, we are preparing for the next stage of this fight,” Clyde said on Monday. “I will take my case to federal court where I am confident justice will be served.”
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Clyde’s colleague, Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert, lost his appeal to avoid a noncompliance fine in March.
