House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has each docked $ 5,000 from the wages of two Republican congressmen who defied her new metal detectors, a senior Democratic aide confirms to The Post.
Representatives Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) and Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) Are the first to be hit with the dramatic fine, paid directly from their $ 174,000 salaries.
A second offense costs $ 10,000 under a policy imposed by Pelosi (D-Calif.) Last month and sanctioned by the House this week after Republicans walked around or marched through metal detectors without stopping.
Gohmert said he will appeal the fine. He said he usually complies with the metal detectors, but that on a few occasions he didn’t after he went to the bathroom.
“Unlike in the movie ‘The Godfather’, there are no toilets with tanks where you could hide a gun, so my return to the House floor should have been a non-issue,” Gohmert said in a statement.
The metal detectors were installed just outside the House room after Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) Said she was planning to take a Glock to the House floor.
That was shortly after the January 6 riot at the Capitol, in which supporters of then-President Donald Trump stormed the building and disrupted President Biden’s certification of victory, killing five.
New York Democratic Rep. Grace Meng tweeted last month: “This isn’t really helpful in terms of potential future rioters, but it’s actually to protect us from our own colleagues.”
Some Republicans, including Reps. Chip Roy (R-Texas) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), Said they would defy the metal detectors on principle because they believe the constitution says lawmakers cannot be detained if they come or go off the floor.
Roy and Massie, who both flew through the detectors before without stopping when they flashed red, weren’t among the first to be fined.
Pelosi separately imposed a $ 500 fine last month on lawmakers not wearing face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic. A second offense costs $ 2,500. That rule quickly enforced a group of conservative Republicans who had refused to wear masks on the floor of the House.