Pelosi and McCarthy exchange barbs over return of Mask House mandate

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WASHINGTON – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and minority leader Kevin McCarthy traded barbs on Wednesday over the return of the mask mandate in the US House of Representatives, and a number of Republicans protested the renewed rules on the ground.

Pelosi called McCarthy a “moron”. McCarthy said Pelosi was making rules that science didn’t support.

The spat is the latest in a series of high-profile rows between members of the House of Representatives over measures designed to curb the spread of the Covid virus, and an ongoing dispute over masks, distancing and vaccines that has reflected national divisions over measures necessary to stop the virus. .

Pelosi has repeatedly criticized House Republicans for failing to vaccinate enough members despite being among the first Americans with access to the footage. 2 House Republican, Steve Scalise, announced last week that after waiting, he had been vaccinated and felt safe.

In an alert to members of the House of Representatives on Tuesday, Capitol Doctor Brian Monahan said people should again wear masks inside the auditorium and office buildings and at committee meetings.

McCarthy tweeted about the new mandate Tuesday night, saying the updated requirement “is not a science-based decision, but one that has been invoked by Liberal government officials who want to continue to live in a perpetual pandemic.”

“He’s stupid,” Pelosi told reporters Wednesday about McCarthy when asked about her reaction.

In response, McCarthy told reporters, “Well, if she’s so cool, can she tell me where the flag in the building is changing between the House and the Senate? Can she explain to me when the CDC says the people who’ve been infected with the virus are so cool?” Only vaccinate them who need to wear a mask in hot spots?”

McCarthy had earlier revealed that he had received the vaccination and was tested separately for Covid antibodies, indicating that he had been infected at some point.

McCarthy said Washington, D.C. is not a hot spot, but Dr. Lagrandra Nisbet, director of the district health department, said Tuesday, “Similar to trends across the country, the District of Columbia has seen a fourfold increase in the daily case rate since the beginning of July. DC is mainly caused by non-immune individuals.”

“For all House office buildings, House Auditorium, and House committee meetings, a well-equipped medical face mask is required to be worn, when the individual is in an indoor space and other personnel are present,” Monahan said.

The Capitol physician said in a separate letter to Senate leaders Wednesday night that he is recommending that their members and staff wear masks indoors on Capitol Hill in response to new guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Amid concerns about the new delta variant, the CDC has recommended the use of an indoor mask in areas of the United States with high transmission rates after new data indicated that fully vaccinated individuals not only contract Covid, but are also likely to infect others.

The House previously had a mandate for mask use at the height of the pandemic and gradually relaxed guidelines until they were lifted completely for people vaccinated in June. However, the Senate has never had a mandate for masks, although many senators chose to wear masks indoors anyway.

The Constitution expressly allows each house of Congress to write its own rules and set its own penalties for “disorderly conduct.” In the Democratic-controlled House, this largely means that the decision rests with Pelosi.

In protest of the new mandate on Wednesday, Representative Chip Roy, R-Texas, was forced to postpone a vote for the House of Representatives.

“Which is it? Vaccines or masks? Do vaccines work or not? Do masks work or not? I would like to know what it is. I would like Dr. Fauci to come down and answer one question about natural immunity. If you have the virus, do you have immunity?” he said. Roy in an emotional speech on the House floor.

He added, “This institution is fake. We must adjourn the session and close this place.”

Several Republicans on Wednesday refused to comply with the latest requirement to wear masks on the floor of the House of Representatives, including Roy and Representatives Lauren Poubert of Colorado; Marjorie Taylor Green of Georgia; And Andy Bigs from Arizona.

Earlier this year, Green compared the House Mask’s mandate to the Holocaust and later apologized after visiting the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

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