WASHINGTON (AP) — Fully vaccinated members of Congress and staffers will no longer have to wear masks on the House floor and in committee rooms, the Office of the Attending Physician said Friday, delighting some GOP lawmakers who have been chafing at the mask-wearing requirements.
The new protocol came nearly a month after vaccinated Americans were told they could ditch their masks, and just days before House lawmakers were set to return to Washington following three weeks in their home districts. Before they left, some Republicans invited fines by not wearing a mask on the House floor.
One of those lawmakers, Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., tweeted Friday in a dig at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi: “PELOSI CAVES. FREEDOM PREVAILS.”
Another, Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, tweeted: “Excellent news! I have been urging the House to lead by example and all fully vaccinated Members to go without masks since April. Great to see the House is FINALLY listening to the science.”
Both of the GOP lawmakers had been fined $500 last month for failing to wear a mask on the House floor. Democrats said they were hoping to ditch their masks, too, but wanted their GOP colleagues to get vaccinated first.
Friction over the House’s mask-wearing requirements increased after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new guidelines last month, saying it’s safe for fully vaccinated people to skip face coverings and social distancing in virtually all situations.
Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., sought to get the Office of the Attending Physician to update its guidance for mask wearing, but Democrats defeated it along a party-line vote of 218-210. The physician’s office is the medical unit of Congress.
Dr. Brian P. Monahan, head of the medical office, said in Friday’s memo that the relaxed requirements for those who have been vaccinated stem from a “continuous reduction of coronavirus community spread.” He also said that face coverings would still be required for those who are not fully vaccinated and for “vaccination-indeterminate individuals.”
He noted that about 43% of Americans are fully vaccinated and 52% have received at least one dose. “Congressional community vaccination rates are generally much higher but vary between Offices and Agencies,” he wrote.
There is no requirement for wearing masks in the Senate chamber.
Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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This was not about making people in Congress wear a Mask. It was about Nancy Pelosi’s control and harassment.
There are protocols (Systems of governing rules), and there are prodigals (spending money or resources freely and recklessly; wastefully extravagant). Control freak Pelosi obviously is fixated on excelling at becoming both. Women make poor bullies, who never have the stones to back up their threats, and just what is a bully other than a coward in disguise who always are forced to back down when challenged by superior people? I hear Leonardo DiCaprio has a mask souvenir from his movie Man in the Iron Mask fit for Pelosi to wear about the Capitol that would fit Pelosi to a tee, that would save THE PEOPLE from a sight that creates sore eyes.
” Balls, Said Queen Nancy Pelosi, If I had Two, I’d be King” I have lays Wondered if, ” the semantic,could be approximately used here, for example, The word, Transgender doesn’t apply in this case….
It was a power trip.. Pure and simple.. And she finally got smacked..
GOOD!
It’s okay, Nancy—you might get scratched off of Fauci’s Christmas list, but you’ll do just fine.
Just have another pint of ICE CREAM , problem solved
Dictator Nancy Pelosi and the communist sheep in the House that follow her, all for control.
Actually I liked seeing pelosi with her face covered, easier on the eyes. Maybe even a full plastic bag over her whole face would work better.
I can’t stand looking at her or even listening to her stuttering, babbling nonsense. Stupidity should not be allowed to control anything, especially in regards to anyone’s choice for their own health and especially being allowed to spend OUR money. It’s time to go.
Pity we can’t make that mask, GLUED ONTO HER FACE!
I suppose that the strong arm of the Congress will demand proof of vaccination for a member to attend? Isn’t that Physician-Patient privileged information and HIPPA protected? And none of Nancy’s effing business? Or anyone else’s?
Na.. They will just make everyone wear a ‘star’ to prove their vaccine status.
In Nancy Pelosie’s world of ” Special privileges, And “Gated Communities, where only the ” Special Few, ” Live together the air that they breath, along with their ability to live Above the ” untouchables is guaranteed and so Nancy wears her identity masked when it suits her purpose, Who’ s arrogant enough to tell Queen Nancy what to do….
Grand standers like Khlamydia Harris and Joe Smeg-Biden will continue to wear their facial corona-condoms. Good for them. Saves us from the disease of insanity and having to look at their continuous smirks of contempt toward the country and constitution.
She’s really aging. When she starts babbling like Biden maybe she’ll step down. Oh wait – she’s always babbling!
The Article Title, Nancy Pelosi Caves ” doesn’t tell the full story about why Queen Nancy, was so upset about the new mask policy set, and without so much as “By your leave, asking Queen Nancy’s approval.The simplest change in the Mask Virus policy that had been changed without Quenn Nancy’s approval first, This isn’t right, it’s just not right! ” Balls, Said Queen Nancy, If I had Two, I’d be King! ” Changing the Mask policy, without consulting Me first, Jus isn’t Right, it just isn’t…..