Nancy says lock ’em up
Capitol mask crackdown
US Capitol Police officers will arrest visitors and staff members who refuse to comply with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s renewed COVID-19 mask mandate — heightening tensions with Republicans who call the mandate an unscientific power trip.
Police won’t arrest lawmakers or people on the Senate side of the Capitol, where masks are voluntary despite a resurgence of coronavirus cases linked to the Delta variant of the virus.
A police bulletin said, “If a visitor or staff member fails to wear a mask after a request is made to do so, the visitor or staff shall be denied entry to the House Office Buildings or House side of the US Capitol. Any person who fails to either comply or leave the premises after being asked to do so would be subject to an arrest for unlawful entry.”
Members of Congress and aides accompanying them who break the new rule won’t be arrested but will be reported to House leaders, who will dock their pay with $500 fines. The Constitution says members of Congress are “privileged from arrest” in most cases at the Capitol.
Rep. Kat Cammack (R-Fla.) tweeted a copy of the instructions for police. The document was dated Wednesday and is scheduled to remain in effect for the rest of the year. “In today’s edition of Pelosi’s abuse of power, Capitol Police have been directed to arrest staff and visitors to comply with her mask mandate for vaccinated individuals,” Cammack tweeted.
The mask fight erupted this week after Pelosi (D-Calif.) readopted an indoor-mask requirement — even though local city health officials had not done so. Pelosi’s decision closely followed the White House move on Tuesday to readopt an indoor-mask mandate.
Thursday afternoon, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser said the city would reimpose an indoor-mask rule for all people, including those vaccinated against the virus, effective Saturday.
Most lawmakers and DC residents are vaccinated against COVID-19, but DC’s number of new COVID-19 cases is rising, particularly in poorer areas on the outskirts of the capital, where authorities are attempting to incentivize shots with $51 Visa gift cards.
According to DC government data, about 63 percent of city residents have had at least one vaccine shot and roughly 54 percent are fully vaccinated.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday announced new guidelines on indoormask wearing as COVID-19 cases rise due to the Delta variant of the virus, especially in areas with lower rates of vaccination.
The agency said that regions with higher rates of transmission should consider imposing indoor-mask mandates, even for people who have been vaccinated.