House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, California, appeared to be defying her own mask requirement on Friday when she removed her face-covering for a photo with a newly sworn congressman.
After Pelosi Rep. Jake Ellzey (R-Texas) took the oath, the speaker was heard asking, « Can we take our masks off just for the photo? » Apparently repeating a question from a photographer. Pelosi then took off her mask and led Ellzey, his wife, and their two children to follow suit.
The photo op took place after the Capitol’s attending physician, Dr. Brian Monahan announced on Tuesday that masks would be required again in the interiors of “all office buildings in the house, the hall of the house and the meetings of the house committee” if more than one person is present.
The new guidelines came after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended the reintroduction of mask requirements in areas with « significant » or « high » coronavirus transmission.
The House of Representatives’ renewed masked mandate has sparked an uproar among Republicans, some of whom met with Monahan on Wednesday after the mandate was withdrawn. At that meeting, Monahan announced that Pelosi had reviewed the guidelines before they were made public, a senior GOP adviser told the Post.
The spokesman maintained the request, calling House minority leader Kevin McCarthy an « idiot » on Wednesday after speaking out against it. McCarthy responded by accusing Pelosi of « hypocrisy » in a speech referring to her trip to a closed salon in San Francisco to have her hair done last summer.
The anger reached new heights Thursday after Rep Kat Cammack (R-Fla.) posted a picture of a law enforcement bulletin that said, “If a visitor or employee does not wear a mask when prompted, do so Visitors or staff will be denied access to the House Office Buildings or the side of the US Capitol. Anyone who fails to do so or leaves the site after being told to do so would be arrested for illegal entry. ”The Capitol Police tried to defuse the situation by saying it existed on Twitter “There is no reason anyone should ever get arrested. Anyone who doesn’t obey the rules will be asked to wear a mask or leave the premises.
Dozens of other House Republicans held their own protest Thursday by marching to the Senate, which is not required to wear a mask, to hear speeches from GOP Sens. Mike Lee of Utah, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, and Ted Cruz of Texas who were breaking mandate.
« I stand by my co-workers and tell my co-workers to do what is in their best interests and I will support them, » Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) told Fox News on Friday. « If Nancy Pelosi wants to pursue my staff, she has to come through me.
» That’s not how we do business here. We can agree, disagree. That’s the line in the sand, ”added Roy. « We are a free country and I will do so and defend the freedom of Americans and my co-workers to do what is in their best interests, not the will of Nancy Pelosi. »
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