Incoming Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene and one other new Republican House member were involved in a heated dispute over masks as the 117th Congress met on Sunday for the first time.
Politico’s senior writer Jake Sherman reported that Greene and the new Republican told floor staff they would not put on their masks.
Sherman said the Republican and Democratic floor staff then apparently ended up in a “screaming match.”
Greene quickly responded to the journalist’s report in a tweet.
“Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi changed the COVID rules because she is desperate to cling to the gavel. No one can attack me about masks, when Pelosi is sending Democrats to the floor with positive COVID tests to vote for her for Speaker,” Greene wrote referring to Rep. Gwen Moore who is still being allowed to vote on the floor even after announcing she tested positive for coronavirus in late December.
.@SpeakerPelosi changed the COVID rules because she is desperate to cling to the gavel.
No one can attack me about masks, when Pelosi is sending Democrats to the floor with positive COVID tests to vote for her for Speaker.#COVID19 #117thCongress https://t.co/BdFwfajMIl
— Marjorie Taylor Greene ???????? (@mtgreenee) January 3, 2021
Later Greene posted a picture of herself with the caption, “Well I actually do have a mask,” sporting a face mask with the words “Trump Won.”
The House is set to vote on a new “rules package” on Monday which will include a remote voting option.
In the House, you can’t carry over rules from the 116th Congress to the 117th Congress which is why everyone has to show up at noon on Sunday.
Normally, all 435 House members-elect would gather in the chamber to vote electronically and record their presence. But during coronavirus, the House will allow members into the chambers in seven groups of about 72 persons at a time.
