Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene
Marjorie Taylor GreeneGOP efforts to downplay danger of Capitol riot increase The Memo: What now for anti-Trump Republicans? Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene says she’s meeting with Trump ‘soon’ in Florida MORE (R-Ga.) has been fined at least seven times for refusing to wear a mask on the House floor, meaning she has accrued $15,500 worth of penalties to date, according to a Monday disclosure from the House Ethics Committee.
In addition to the three previous times Greene was fined in May, August and September, the committee said on Monday that she was issued fines four additional times in late September.
Greene earlier this year wore masks around the Capitol decorated with messages like “Trump Won” and “Censored.” But in recent months, she has routinely forgone masks on the House floor and elsewhere despite the mask requirement intended for everyone on the House side of the Capitol.
It’s not clear if Greene has received additional fines beyond the seven publicly disclosed by the House Ethics Committee. A spokesperson for Greene didn’t immediately return a request for comment from The Hill.
Greene said last week that she believes masks are “unhealthy” and is “taking a stand on the House floor because I don’t want the people to stand alone.”
House Democrats established a mask mandate in July 2020 because several Republicans refused to wear masks, including one who subsequently tested positive for COVID-19 after having contact with other lawmakers.
Democrats later established hefty fines to enforce the House mask requirement after a number of Republicans, including Greene, declined to wear masks while lawmakers were crowded together in a secure space during the Jan. 6 insurrection.
House members are fined $500 for the first mask offense and $2,500 for subsequent offenses.
Greene filed an appeal with the House Ethics Committee to challenge the first mask fine she was issued in May, but the evenly divided panel upheld the fine. Greene has not filed appeals for any of her other mask fines since then.
Greene — along with two other Republicans fined for refusing to wear masks on the House floor, Reps. Thomas Massie
Thomas Harold MassieGreene fined a third time for refusing to wear mask on House floor Eighth House GOP lawmaker issued 0 fine for not wearing mask on House floor Reps. Greene, Roy fined for not wearing masks on House floor MORE (Ky.) and Ralph Norman
Ralph Warren NormanMadison Cawthorn to join House Freedom Caucus Greene fined a third time for refusing to wear mask on House floor Pennsylvania Republican becomes latest COVID-19 breakthrough case in Congress MORE (S.C.) — filed a lawsuit in July to challenge the constitutionality of the mask fines.
Greene has been suspended from Twitter for promoting misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines and faced backlash earlier this year for comparing vaccine and mask rules to the Holocaust.
Greene apologized in June for making the Holocaust comparison following rare rebukes from GOP leaders.
Greene isn’t the only House Republican who is racking up thousands of dollars’ worth of fines for refusing to wear a mask on the House floor.
The House Ethics Committee also disclosed on Monday that Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) — who compared the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol to a “normal tourist visit” — has been fined a total of at least four times, or $8,000, for not wearing a mask.
Clyde has not filed appeals for any of those mask fines. But he did unsuccessfully try to appeal another $15,000 worth of fines earlier this year for failing to comply with metal detector screenings to enter the House chamber.
Clyde subsequently filed a lawsuit with Rep. Louie Gohmert
Louis (Louie) Buller GohmertSubpoenas are a real worry for lawmakers facing Jan. 6 questions After 35 years, Congress should finally end the sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine Democrats say GOP lawmakers implicated in Jan. 6 should be expelled MORE (R-Texas) challenging the constitutionality of the fines meant to enforce compliance with the security screenings.
The metal detectors were installed outside the entrances to the House chamber shortly after Jan. 6 to enforce compliance with rules prohibiting lawmakers from bringing weapons inside. Democrats later instituted fines — $5,000 for the first offense and $10,000 for subsequent offenses — when several Republicans defied Capitol Police officers’ instructions to comply with the security screenings.
Two other far-right Republicans, Reps. Matt Gaetz
Matthew (Matt) GaetzAnti-Trump Republicans target McCarthy, Scalise, other high-profile conservatives California man arrested for allegedly threatening Gaetz Springsteen: Trump, De Santis and Taylor Greene mustn’t decide ‘fate of the American experiment’ MORE (Fla.) and Lauren Boebert
Lauren BoebertSubpoenas are a real worry for lawmakers facing Jan. 6 questions Anti-Trump Republicans target McCarthy, Scalise, other high-profile conservatives The Hill’s Morning Report – Presented by Facebook – Budget negotiators: 72 hours and counting MORE (Colo.), joked over the weekend about blowing up the metal detectors with explosives.
“I’ll bring the Tannerite!” Boebert tweeted, referring to a material that can be used as an explosive.
Boebert later sought to clarify that she was speaking in jest after numerous Twitter users tagged the FBI in response to her original tweet.
“To the fools who think this would be done inside the Capitol: get a life! The metal detectors are useless and we are getting rid of them when Republicans take back the House,” Boebert tweeted.
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