Republican Rep. Andrew Clyde of Georgia and Louie Gohmert of Texas were both fined $ 5,000 for failing to comply with the new security protocols. The fines, which are intended to punish members who do not complete security checks before entering the house floor, will be deducted from members’ salaries on Tuesday, according to the new rule. A second offense will result in a $ 10,000 fine.
Clyde refused to go through the metal detectors when he entered the house floor, CNN learned, while Gohmert left the house floor to go to the bathroom and did not stop to be screened again.
Gohmert told CNN he left the house floor Thursday night to go to the bathroom and did not think he needed to be screened to be able to return to the floor again.
“I went through the metal detector perfectly. And as I did for weeks since the metal detectors were here, I was about to talk, so I came to the toilet, and I’ve never wandered or anything “They were able to see you coming in and you were coming out. And they said, ‘Because I did not stop, I went to speak. They made it sound like I was avoiding the metal detectors,'” Gohmert told CNN. .
“I obeyed it completely. And so suddenly someone made an arbitrary and fickle decision to suddenly start wandering when they saw you going to the toilet.”
Gohmert, who said he only received the fine on Friday morning, told CNN he was going to appeal, but had not yet spoken to the home office, Nancy Pelosi.
CNN reached out to Clyde’s office, but so far received no response.