Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) is one of several Republican congressmembers who have taken issue with President Joe Biden’s State of the Union attendance rules, and Roy says he has made the decision not to go to the event because of them.
Speaking to Breitbart News in an interview on Tuesday hours before the address was scheduled to begin, Roy listed several reasons for his refusal to attend, including the fence barrier erected around the Capitol at the request of Biden’s Secret Service, the convenient timing of the Capitol dropping its mask mandate, and the vaccine mandates that remain in place in some parts of the country.
“Look, there’s a fence around the Capitol of the United States. The American people can’t come visit their Capitol. They’re going to force testing requirements on members of Congress to go do our job. And meanwhile, they’re lifting the mask mandate of the last almost two years, just in time for the State of the Union so they can go put on a show,” Roy said.
Roy, an outspoken member of the House Freedom Caucus and a leading voice opposing coronavirus vaccine mandates, went on to observe that some of those who were once deemed essential workers, such as nurses and military servicemembers, have been terminated from their jobs for choosing not to receive a vaccine.
“You still have vaccine mandates on the American people, nurses who are losing their job refusing to get a jab. Members of our military refusing to get a jab get fired. We’ve got Border Patrol agents refusing to get a jab and getting fired,” Roy said.
The Texas congressman added, “So why am I going to go in there and play sit down, stand up, fight, fight, fight, look at you, Mr. President, when you’re screwing the American people every day? I’m not going to participate in this kind of a sham.”
Multiple other members have chosen not to attend, including Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Tom Cotton (R-AR).
Rep. Billy Long (R-MO) said in an interview on Tuesday he “probably” would not attend. “I think I’m probably watching it from my apartment quite frankly,” Long said.
Long was wearing a St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital tie signed by former President Donald Trump as he explained that he was “relegated up to the gallery” this year, despite RSVPing “the very first day,” because of the State of the Union social distancing rules.
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Typically the gallery area of the House chamber, where the annual address takes place, is reserved for guests, but some congressmembers have been assigned to sit in that section of the chamber this year.
“I always sit on the aisle. I always wear my St. Jude Children’s Research Center tie, and I had President Trump sign it last time, and he signed one before for me, and we auctioned it off for $15,000 and gave the money for St. Jude,” Long explained. “So it’s a tradition to always see the big guy sitting on the aisle with his St. Jude’s tie.”
Other Republican members suggested in interviews with Breitbart News on Tuesday that they would attempt to go — considering the Constitution specifies that the president must “periodically” give Congress updates on the state of the union — but that they did not plan to adhere to certain mandates.
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) said he does not support the testing requirement for the address. Jordan said it seemed arbitrary and therefore “ridiculous” considering that rule is not in place when all congressmembers are together in one room on other occasions.
Asked if he plans to go, Jordan said, “We’ll see what happens. I’m not going to go get the test.”
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Rep. Dan Bishop (R-NC) said he is “on the bubble” for the address, noting that when the mask mandate was dropped last-minute on Sunday he at that point intended to go, but then he noticed his ticket was designated for the gallery.
“I’m a member of Congress. They’re going to admit me to the floor or I won’t be there,” Bishop said.
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Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-WI) quipped when asked if he planned to go to the address, “We’ll see if they let me in.”
The Republican congressmembers all spoke to Breitbart News at a town hall media event in the Rayburn building of the U.S. Capitol complex Tuesday afternoon. Several media outlets were in attendance, including Fox News, the Washington Times, Newsmax, and others.
Other GOP congressmembers reacted to the coronavirus policies for the State of the Union on social media:
Write to Ashley Oliver at aoliver@breitbart.com. Follow her on Twitter at @asholiver.