'Mask rebellion' in House after Pelosi demands face coverings despite CDC guidance
House Republicans argue the House mask policy is arbitrary as four lawmakers are fined; Fox News congressional correspondent Chad Pergram reports.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., called out members of Congress who have "selfishly" refused to get vaccinated and said coronavirus mask mandates will remain in place until the anti-shot holdouts get jabbed.
"They are selfishly an endangerment to other people, including staff people here," Pelosi said Thursday of her colleagues who haven't been vaccinated.
"We have a responsibility to make sure the House of Representatives' chamber is not a petri dish," she added during her weekly news conference at the Capitol.
Some GOP representatives have been waging a protest against the House's ongoing rules that require the wearing of masks inside the chamber despite new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that says fully vaccinated people can go maskless indoors under most circumstances.
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Some Republicans have openly ditched their masks this week and have faced fines of $500 apiece for violating the coronavirus rules that require mask-wearing in the chamber unless they are formally addressing Congress. Some who have been fined say they are fully vaccinated and just following the CDC guidance, but others have declined to say whether they have gotten the shots and, in some cases, have raised safety and ethical concerns about the vaccinations.
"It is unfortunate that a large number of people in the Congress have refused to be vaccinated," Pelosi said. "… Until they are vaccinated, we cannot have meetings without masks."
GOP House members protesting the House's ongoing mask mandate pose for a picture Tuesday, May 18, 2021, outside the Capitol. (Fox News)
Pelosi is backed by Capitol Attending Physician Dr. Brian Monahan who said Wednesday the House mask requirement will remain unchanged "until all Members and floor staff are fully vaccinated."
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Pelosi has previously estimated that about 75% of House members are vaccinated. She urged Republicans who haven't gotten the shots to get the jab if they want to stop wearing masks. Several of the most outspoken GOP mask critics have refused to say whether or not they are vaccinated as they flout the mask rules, creating a level of distrust among members.
Pelosi balked at the idea of employing the honor system on the House floor and just trusting that unmasked individuals were, indeed, vaccinated.
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"Do you want them breathing in your face on the strength of their honor?" Pelosi said.
She implied that the rules could be even stricter and unvaccinated people could potentially be banned from the House floor altogether. But she said the mask policy was a way to find balance and ensure that members can exercise their "constitutional duty."
By Wednesday, four GOP House members were fined $500 for going maskless on the House floor: Reps. Brian Mast of Florida, Beth Van Duyne of Texas, Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Iowa and Ralph Norman of South Carolina. The number ticked up to six by Thursday with Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., and Thomas Massie, R-Ky., also getting fined after ignoring their warnings from the previous day.
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Miller-Meeks, a physician, said she's fully vaccinated and was just following CDC guidelines. She's been a big advocate for the shots – even administering the vaccinations back home in Iowa – and said the House should lead by example and return to normal operations.
"Nancy Pelosi should follow the science, not fine the science," Miller-Meeks told Fox News' "America's Newsroom" on Thursday.
Fox News' Chad Pergram contributed to this report.
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