House Ethics Committee Upholds $500 Fines for GOP Lawmakers Who Refused To Follow Mask Rule

Three Republican lawmakers will be paying a fine of $500 for failing to comply with a rule requiring them to wear masks on the House floor last month amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Reps. Brian Mast (R-Fla.), Marianne Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa), and Beth Van Duyne (R-Texas) will all pay $500 for not wearing masks during last month’s session, as The Hill reports.

Mast and Van Duyne filed appeals with the House Ethics Committee, but the panel announced on Friday their appeals were rejected.

“It’s evident now that enforcement of any mask rule has become a partisan, political issue, rather than one grounded in science,” Van Duyne wrote in her appeal.

She added, “Masks are now a political statement to which I object, and requiring me to wear one violates my First Amendment rights under the United States Constitution.”

Mast argued in his appeal, on the date of the alleged violation, “I was in full compliance with Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance. I am fully vaccinated and followed the science, which on May 13, 2021, was updated by the CDC to state that ‘fully vaccinated people no longer need to wear a mask or physically distance in any setting.'”

They both argued the fine violates the 27th Amendment, “which prohibits any change to the salaries of members of Congress until an election has passed,” as The Hill notes.

Miller-Meeks did not file