GOP lawmakers ask SCOTUS to take up masking rule lawsuit
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Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) speaking in the Capitol building on Nov. 14. Photo: Anna Rose Layden/Getty Images
Three right-wing House members petitioned the Supreme Court on Tuesday to hear their lawsuit over penalties they incurred for flouting a pandemic-era mask requirement in Congress.
The big picture: Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) had their pay docked for repeatedly refusing to wear masks during the COVID-19 pandemic, as required by House rules.
- Lawmakers faced a $500 fine for their first violation and another $2,500 fine for additional offenses.
- Greene, Massie and Norman argued in their original lawsuit against then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and other congressional officials that the rule violated the 27th Amendment, which prevents congressional salary changes from going into effect until after the next election.
The U.S. District Court for D.C. dismissed the lawsuit, ruling that it violated the Constitution's Speech or Debate Clause, which protects lawmakers from lawsuits and questioning for things they say and do as part of their legislative work.
- The dismissal was upheld by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.
- Greene's, Massie's and Norman's appeals to the House Ethics Committee were also denied.
- The lawmaker's attorneys argued in the appeal to the Supreme Court on Tuesday that Pelosi and the other congressional officials should not be granted speech or debate immunity.
Masking became, and remains, a partisan issue both in Congress and around the country, with Republicans generally opposing masking more than Democrats or independents.
- However, in Congress at least, that was originally not the case, as Republicans encouraged masking and other prevention measures early on in the pandemic and required masks at party conferences.
- What changed was the politicization of health messaging and health policy, in part driven by an explosion of misinformation around the coronavirus, masking, vaccines and other prevention methods.
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