Republican lawmakers are calling for Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to be fined after she was caught violating the newly implemented rules requiring members to go through metal detectors before entering the House chamber.
Acting Sergeant-at-Arms Timothy Blodgett was sent a letter by Republicans on the House Administration Committee arguing that Pelosi should be fined over the new rule that she helped to implement.
“Yesterday, at approximately 9:59 am, multiple members observed the Speaker of the House entering the House Chamber without completing security screening,” the Republicans wrote, according to The Hill.
“What was observed was a clear violation of House Resolution 73 and you are required by House Rules to impose this fine. Please inform us once the fine has been assessed,” they continued. “We look forward to a prompt response to this inquiry.”
In his response, Blodgett told the Republicans that he has not received a complaint from the Capitol Police about a violation by Pelosi.
“House Sergeant at Arms imposes the fine after receiving an unusual occurrence report from the United States Capitol Police (USCP),” he wrote. “An unusual incident report from the Capitol Police is appended to the document sent to the Member providing notice of the fine.”
“Only the USCP can determine whether an individual has failed to complete security screening as only the USCP has sufficient training to determine compliance with USCP screening procedures,” Blodgett added. “I have directed that the USCP produce and provide unusual incident reports on any individual who fails to complete security screening without exception. I have not received any unusual incident report from the USCP concerning the Speaker of the House.”
This comes after House Democrats voted to impose a $5,000 fine for first offense and $10,000 for the second for members who fail to comply with the new screenings. Democrats brought in the metal detectors last month in response to the Capitol riots. Republicans criticized this move, arguing the threat was coming from outside the building, not from members.
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