Multiple House Republicans Refuse to Comply with Newly Reinstated Mask Mandate

 Several Republican lawmakers refused to wear masks on the House side of the Capitol on Wednesday after Speaker Nancy Pelosi instituted a new mask mandate.

A mask edict is again in effect in the House after the Capitol physician recommended one on Tuesday, even for those who are vaccinated. Pelosi wasted no time instituting a new mandate, The Hill reported.

She later called House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy a “moron” for criticizing the move.

On Wednesday, Republicans including Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Matt Gaetz of Florida, Chip Roy of Texas, Andy Biggs of Arizona, Mary Miller of Illinois and Andrew Clyde of Georgia refused to comply with Pelosi’s decree.

Violations of the mandate carry a $500 fine, with a $2,500 fine for a second offense.

Greene, along with Republican Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Ralph Norman of South Carolina, filed a lawsuit against Pelosi on Tuesday claiming the mask requirement is unconstitutional.

Some of the representatives came out swinging against Pelosi on social media.

Roy later pointed out on the House floor that Pelosi reinstated the mandate as thousands of unasked illegal migrants continue to flow across the country’s southern border.

The Hill reported that masks were a point of contention in two tense encounters between GOP Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida and Democratic Rep. Jared Huffman of California.

After previously seeing Donalds on CNN explaining why he wasn’t vaccinated, Huffman reportedly harassed him after seeing him in an elevator without a mask on.

“It’s ridiculous that you’re unvaccinated, unmasked and you’re getting into an elevator with other people,” Huffman told Donalds, according to The Hill.

The pair crossed paths again later, and Huffman attacked his Republican colleague, calling him “incredibly selfish.”

“What are you doing? Mind your business. Leave me alone,” Donalds reportedly said in response.

“The CDC can recommend all they want. But that’s still my choice as a human being about what I’m going to put into my body. You’re talking to someone who doesn’t get flu shots. Why? Because I don’t want to put flu vaccines into my body,” Donalds said.

Donalds told The Hill that at the time he was accosted by Huffman he was unaware of Pelosi’s new mask mandate.