A group of Republican lawmakers in the House are removing masks in the room

A group of Republican lawmakers in the House of Representatives refused to wear face masks on the floor during Tuesday’s vote in defiance of leadership rules regarding COVID-19 protocols. House Democrats imposed a rule in January that says members will be fined $ 500 for the first offense and $ 2,500 for the second offense if they don’t wear a mask on the House floor. The members who refused to wear the mask on Tuesday, Rep. Brian Mast, a Republican from Florida, who was approached by a staff member of the Arms Sgt in the House during the vote and did not wear a mask, then others began to follow suit. Among them is Representative Mary Miller, a R from Elle, who sat in the front row next to Rep. Ralph Norman, RS, and was not wearing a face covering. Representatives Marjorie Taylor Green of Georgia, Thomas Massey of Kentucky and Lauren Boibert of Colorado stood in the front of the hall talking and laughing. Rep. Beth Van Doyne of Texas and Bob Judd of Virginia were seated in a sea of ​​their masked colleagues, while Rep. Madison Cawthorne, RN. The confrontation comes after masked directives from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for people who have been fully vaccinated, even indoors, except in crowded enclosed spaces. However, not every Republican member of the House of Representatives is vaccinated, and Massey, who CNN reports has not been vaccinated, has tweeted over and over about the group of members who are not wearing masks. Massey tested positive for COVID-19 antibodies in July of 2020. The CDC recommends people get vaccinated regardless of whether or not they have the coronavirus because experts are still not sure how long protection will take. For some, baffling for others. What experts say is that this affects the credibility of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A few other members, like Greene, wouldn’t say whether or not they had been vaccinated, and at one point, when several unmasked members gathered near the front of the room, Rep. Robyn was approached by Kelly, D-Ill. Massey was faced with not wearing a mask. Massey could be heard answering, “I can’t hear you,” with the mask. try. Then Jimmy Raskin, vice chair of the House Management Committee, approached the group and spoke with Massey, Boeb, and Green for a long, heated conversation. Ruskin left after that, shivering. When asked what they talked about, Ruskin told USA TODAY that he was telling the Republican group that “100% of the Democrats have been vaccinated, so the only reason we can’t get our masks off the word is because of them.” Ruskin said the Republicans responded that they were “engaged in a civil disobedience protest” and sarcastically likened them to the “21st century freedom knights.” Harm. I think they would send a much stronger message if they were vaccinated. If we were all vaccinated, we could all take off our masks. That would be the message, ”Ruskin later told USA TODAY,“ I’m not interested in fineing them. I’m interested in getting them vaccinated. ”After that, Mast told reporters it was“ the best $ 500 I’ve ever spent. “The group will not provide further details on whether or not they are all vaccinated. Politico reports that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, California, is planning a signature move on the mask bases on Wednesday.