The House Ethics Committee on Wednesday fined Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Chip Roy (R-TX) for their vehement refusal to wear masks on the House floor.
The committee issued a pair of statements on Wednesday that cited both of the GOP lawmakers’ refusal to wear masks in the House chamber during a session on Aug. 2.
The latest fine for Greene — who was previously hit with a $500 fine in May for violating the House’s mask mandate a second time — amounts to $2,500. It’s her third offense.
Roy is set to face a $500 fine for his first documented offense. He previously received a first-offense warning in May.
Neither Greene nor Roy filed an appeal with the committee.
Roy told Forbes that he decided against an appeal because he sees “filing an appeal to tyrannical overlords is a futile gesture,” adding that it could leave him “without standing to sue, should the mood arise.”
TPM reached out to Greene’s office for comment.
In addition to Greene and Roy, five other Republican lawmakers have been hit with fines for failing to comply with the House floor’s mask mandate: Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY), Ralph Norman (R-SC), Brian Mast (R-FL), Beth Van Duyne (R-TX) and Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA).
In July, Greene, Massie and Norman filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to challenge the constitutionality of the mask fines. They argued that the fines, which are deducted from lawmakers’ paychecks, violates the Constitution’s 27th Amendment that states a law that alters lawmakers’ pay can’t go into effect until after an election. The House floor mask mandate is technically a rule, however.
Earlier this year, Greene came under fire for comparing the House’s mask requirements to the Holocaust. Greene issued an overdue apology for her “offensive” comments after Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL) threatened to censure her. Following Greene’s apology, Schneider backed off of his censure resolution, citing her apology after her visit to the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) first implemented the House’s floor mask mandate in July 2020 after several Republicans refused to comply with the COVID mitigation measure. Although the mask mandate was rescinded in June as cases of COVID-19 declined, it was reinstated about a month later as the spread of the delta variant prompted spikes in infections nationwide.
Read the statements below:
Both infractions occured on Aug. 2, according to letters from the committee. Neither lawmaker is appealing. pic.twitter.com/H0avIaRwrZ
— Andrew Solender (@AndrewSolender) September 8, 2021
