Metal detectors installed outside the floor of the House of Representatives after the January 6 Capitol riot were removed Tuesday as the Republican-led 118th Congress commenced.
A week after the events of January 6, former Acting House Sergeant at Arms Timothy Blodgett issued a protocol that representatives would be required to go through metal detectors when entering the House Chamber, and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) subsequently announced substantial fines for violators. On Tuesday, CNN’s Chief Congressional Correspondent Manu Raju tweeted that the magnetometers were removed around noon time, just as the new Congress convened.
Tristan Justice, a correspondent for the Federalist, and Fox News Senior Congressional Correspondent Chad Pergram also reported that the magnetometers were taken down.
After Blodgett announced the measure, Pelosi revealed that offenders would be subject to exorbitant fines. First-time violators would be hit with a $5,000 fine, while those who breached the protocol twice were subject to $10,000 penalties. If representatives did not pay the fine, it would be deducted from their pay.
“I’m not joking — when you talk about the fall of the Soviet Union, what did they start to do?” said former Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) at the time. “They started to crack down. They started to crack down on people. That’s what you see here.”
Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) also voiced her displeasure with the move, calling it “another political stunt by Speaker Pelosi” and arguing that the measures would not have prevented the riot.
In response to Boebert, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) stated, “Suck it up buttercups. Y’all brought this on yourselves.”
Several House Republicans were reportedly fined for allegedly failing to go through the detector, including former Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX), Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA), and Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX). All of the representatives were reportedly fined $5,000 for their initial offenses. Gohmert and Clyde’s fines came in February 2021, while Crenshaw’s was handed down in September 2021.
“This should come as no surprise, but Democrats are making up the rules as they go,” said Gohmert on the heels of the report.
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