Democratic Represantative Katherine Clark is asking the House sergeant at arms to require maskless members of Congress to cast their votes from “isolation boxes” in the House gallery above the main floor, citing the rapid spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant.
In a January 11, 2022 letter, Assistant House Speaker Katherine Clark said “fines have proven insufficient to prevent some Members from repeatedly violating” the House’s mask-wearing rules, which include a $500 fine for the first offense and $2,500 for each offense after that.
“This commonsense step will not only protect our dedicated House staff from Members who refuse to follow House rules, but it will also allow those members to continue to fulfill their constitutional duty to vote on matters before the House.”
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican who has repeatedly ignored the masking rules, was dismissive of the idea. The congresswoman, who has said she’s unvaccinated, was recently barred from Twitter for spreading misinformation about COVID-19 and the efficacy of the disease’s vaccines.
The fines for failing to wear a mask are deducted from members’ paychecks. Greene and a fellow Georgia Republican, Rep. Andrew Clyde, have together lost over $100,000 from their salaries over violations of the rule, which Clark noted in her letter.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer is also advising members to wear N95 or KN95 masks on the House floor, regardless of vaccination status, and is strongly discouraging congregating during votes. The isolation boxes were initially created to allow members of Congress who had tested positive for the coronavirus to attend votes, which was important as Nancy Pelosi sought to whip votes for the speakership in 2021.