After the January 6 Capitol Riot, metal detectors were placed outside the House of Representatives. They were taken out Tuesday when the Republican-led 118th Congress began.
One week after January 6’s events, former Acting House Sergeant of Arms Timothy Blodgett announced a protocol in which representatives were required to pass metal detectors upon entering the House Chamber. Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), then announced severe fines for those who violated the protocol. Manu Raju, CNN’s Chief Congress Correspondent, tweeted on Tuesday that the magnetometers had been removed at noon, as the new Congress was convening.
Tristan Justice, a reporter for the Federalist and Fox News Senior Correspondent Chad Pergram reported that the magnetometers had been taken down.
Blodgett had announced the measure. Pelosi then revealed that the fines for offenders would be exorbitant. The first-time violators will be subject to a $5,000 fine. Those who break the protocol two times or more will face $10,000 penalties. Representatives who fail to pay the fine would see their wages reduced.
“I don’t think they are joking — when we talk about the collapse of the Soviet Union what did they do?” ex-Rep. Devin Nunes (R. CA) said at the time. They started to crackdown. They began to crack down on people. This is what you will see.
Rep. Lauren Boebert (R.CO) also expressed dissatisfaction with the move. She called it “another political stunt of Speaker Pelosi” while arguing that the measures wouldn’t have prevented the riot.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), responded to Boebert by saying, “Suck it up buttercups.” This was yours.
Former Rep. Louie Gohmert, Rep. Andrew Clyde (R–GA) and Rep. Dan Crenshaw were among the House Republicans who were reported to have been fined for failing to pass through the detector. For their first offenses, all of the representatives were fined $5,000. Clyde and Gohmert were fined in February 2021 while Crenshaw was penalized in September 2021.
“This should not be surprising, but Democrats are creating the rules as they please,” Gohmert said in response to the report.
