WASHINGTON\u00a0\u2013 A group of House GOP lawmakers refused to wear face masks on the floor during votes on Tuesday in defiance of leadership’s rules regarding COVID-19 protocols.\u00a0<\/p>\n
House Democrats imposed a rule in January that said members would be fined $500 on a first offense and $2,500 for a second offense if they did not wear a mask on the House floor.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The members Tuesday who refused to wear a mask first included Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., who was approached by a staff member of the House Sergeant of Arms during votes and did not put one on.<\/p>\n
Then others started following suit.<\/p>\n
Some of these included\u00a0Rep Mary Miller, R-Il., who\u00a0sat in the front row next to Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., neither donning a face covering.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Thomas Massie of Kentucky\u00a0and Lauren Boebert of Colorado\u00a0stood at the front of the chamber, talking and laughing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Reps. Beth Van Duyne of Texas and Bob Good of Virginia sat amidst a sea of their masked colleagues, while Rep. Madison Cawthorn, R-N.C., wheeled himself into the chamber with a face covering and whipped it off after he sat in a chair.<\/p>\n
The confrontation follows loosened masked guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention\u00a0for people who are fully vaccinated, even indoors, except in crowded indoor settings.\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, not every House Republican is vaccinated.<\/p>\n
Massie, who CNN has reported\u00a0is not vaccinated, tweeted repeatedly about the group of members not wearing masks. Massie tested positive for COVID-19 antibodies\u00a0in July of 2020. The CDC recommends people still get vaccinated regardless of whether they have\u00a0had coronavirus or not as experts still aren’t sure how long the protection will last.<\/p>\n
There are at least 8 of us now on the floor, openly ignoring Pelosi\u2019s oppressive unconstitutional rule.<\/p>\n
#FreeYourFace
Masks are oppressive and nothing but a political tool.
End the oppression! pic.twitter.com\/EBvCtBpE6u<\/p>\n
A few other members, such as Greene, will\u00a0not say whether they have been vaccinated.<\/p>\n
At one point, when several of the maskless members had congregated near the front of the chamber, Rep. Robin Kelly, D-Ill., approached them and confronted Massie about not wearing a mask. Massie could be heard responding: “I can’t hear you” with the mask.<\/p>\n
pic.twitter.com\/4zLUtkiywo<\/p>\n
Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., Vice Chair\u00a0of the\u00a0Committee\u00a0on House\u00a0Administration, then approached the group and\u00a0spoke with Massie, Boebert, and Greene for an extended, heated conversation.\u00a0Raskin then walked away, head shaking.<\/p>\n
When asked what they spoke about, Raskin told USA TODAY that he was telling the group of Republicans that \u201c100% of the Democrats have been vaccinated so the only reason we can\u2019t take our masks off on the floor is because of them.”<\/p>\n
Raskin said the Republicans had responded they “were having a civil disobedience protest” to which he sarcastically compared them to “21st Century Freedom Riders.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Republicans\u00a0are doing “the House a disservice, the country a disservice. I think they’d be sending a much stronger message if they got vaccinated. If all of us were vaccinated, we can all take our masks off. That would be the message,” he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Raskin later told USA TODAY, “I\u2019m not interested in them getting fined. I\u2019m interested in them getting vaccinated.\u201d<\/p>\n
Afterwards, Mast told reporters it was the “best $500 I ever spent.\u201d The group\u00a0wouldn’t elaborate on if they were all vaccinated or not.<\/p>\n
POLITICO reported that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., is\u00a0planning a privileged motion on the mask rules Wednesday.<\/p>\n