GOP Demands Nancy Pelosi To Pay Hefty Fine for Breaking Her Own Metal Detector Rules
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) walks through a metal detector before entering the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol on January 21, 2021 in Washington, DC. Following the storming of the U.S. Capitol of January 6, the House is scheduled to vote Thursday afternoon on a rule change mandating fines for members who refuse to follow new security screening protocols for the House Chamber. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Republicans wanted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to pay a hefty fine after allegedly skirting the metal detectors outside the House chambers on Thursday. Pelosi earlier imposed a rule requiring all members of the House to go through the heightened security measure.

House GOP was reported to have seen Nancy Pelosi using an alternative entrance to the House, which is an entrance that allows the Speaker to bypass the new security measures placed after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, according to The Daily Wire report.

Rep. Rodney Davis told Fox News that Pelosi entered the House floor from what is known as the Speaker's lobby, which is forbidden.

"We are all told, one Republican was fined for doing this just yesterday, that you cannot walk through those entrances unless you are disabled," Davis said.

The GOP members of the Committee on House Administration wrote a letter to acting Sergeant at Arms Timothy Blodgett, saying that Pelosi entered the premise without completing security screening.

In the letter, GOP members said there was a clear violation of House Resolution 73, and Blodgett is required by House rules to impose this fine. According to a Daily Mail report, the letter further demanded that Nancy Pelosi pay the same fines as every other Congress member.

Nancy Pelosi's New Instilled Rules

The added security process was implemented at the Capitol building after the Capitol insurrection. It has become a topic of disagreements between Democrats and Republicans after some members refused to follow the newly instilled rules.

Last Tuesday, the House voted to approve official regulations that would require lawmakers to pay the fines of $5,000 for a first-time offense and $10,000 for a second one, should they refuse to go through metal detectors placed outside the doorways of the chamber.

Democrats had called for the measure after several Republicans reported to be armed in the chamber during the Capitol riot. Members of Congress are not allowed to carry firearms on the floor.

Nancy Pelosi said these changes are needed to keep those working around the building, including the Capitol police, safe. The Speaker noted that it was tragic that this step is needed, according to a report.

Based on the regulations, any lawmaker who violates the screening policy has 30 days to appeal his case to the House Ethics Committee. The fine will be deducted from the paycheck of a lawmaker.

Several Republican lawmakers, including Reps. Louie Gohmert and Chip Roy of Texas, Andrew Clyde of Georgia, and Lauren Boebert of Colorado refused to comply with the new orders since the detectors were first installed.

Gohmert and Clyde were already fined $5,000 each for bypassing the new House safety measure adopted this week. Roy earlier said that the House floor's metal detector policy is unnecessary, unconstitutional, and endangers members.

"I did not comply tonight. I will not comply in the future," Roy tweeted on Jan. 12.

Boebert, on the other hand, declined to hand over her purse when it set off the metal detector. Boebert, known to campaign on her commitment to the Second Amendment, advocated for her right to be armed at the Capitol.

The Colorado representative was eventually allowed to enter the chamber. Boebert later tweeted that they did not need more metal detectors when they "were locked in the Chambers on the 6th."

Rep. Dan Crenshaw of Texas insisted that Nancy Pelosi must pay the fine since she violated her "own rules."

"She won't abide by the rules herself so we're going to make a huge push for her to actually have to pay that fine," Crenshaw said.

Republicans called on Capitol Police to report Pelosi's violation to the acting Sergeant-at-Arms so he could issue the fine. But Timothy Blodgett, Blodgett said Friday that Capitol Police had yet to report the incident.

Meanwhile, Democrats scrutinized Republicans' defiance over the security policy, with Rep. Don Beyer, saying that average people do not get to bring guns into the Capitol during normal times.

Aside from the security measure, House Democrats also imposed a new rule on Tuesday, which fines Congress members $500 for not wearing a mask on the House floor.