Written by Will Hekman
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is being sued over her mandate that House members be masked while on the House floor. The suit was filed by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA-14th) who said that the mandate segregated lawmakers and set unlawful fines. Greene said in her press conference that the fines were, “arbitrary and capricious, an abuse of discretion, and otherwise not consistent with law or with principles of fairness.” One week ago, Greene attempted to overturn the mandate but was rejected by the House Ethics Committee. Greene filed the lawsuit on Tuesday in a D.C federal court.
Greene was joined by two other representatives, Thomas Massie (KY-3rd) and Ralph Norman (SC-5th). Norman was recently fined for not wearing a mask on the floor during voting. Norman is appealing his fine saying, “I voted on the House floor without wearing my mask, I did so because I was following the direction of our nation’s top scientists that fully vaccinated individuals do not need to wear a mask.” The argument from the representatives is that the mandate is out of line with federal guidance, as most of the lawmakers in Washington are vaccinated and do not require a mask.
Greene has also recently criticized a restaurant in Atlanta that announced it would only serve those who had been vaccinated. She wrote in a social media post that the restaurant’s policy was akin to segregation, sharing an image from the restaurant that read, “No Vax, No Service”. Recently, Greene was asked if she had received the vaccine and replied that the question was a violation of her HIPAA rights, which protects an individual’s sensitive health information.
