Earlier today, Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., was ruled out of order and cut off by the Speaker’s chair for donning a hoodie and sunglasses while giving a speech about Trayvon Martin. But this certainly was not the first time a member has violated the rules with an unauthorized hat to make a splash.
In 1991, as the House banking scandal was unfolding, Rep. Jim Nussle, R-Iowa, took the floor and put a paper bag over his head to highlight the shame that other members had brought on the insitution of Congress with their check-kiting ways. Here’s the video. Note that the presider doesn’t see him put the bag over his head at the beginning of the speech, and note also the reprimand Nussle gets from the chair when he’s done.
