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NY Post
New York Post
29 Nov 2023


NextImg:GOP lawmakers who defied Pelosi’s mask order take battle to Supreme Court 

A trio of Republican lawmakers fined by former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) over their refusal to wear masks petitioned the Supreme Court Tuesday to hear their lawsuit after losing in a lower court.

Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Ralph Norman (R-SC) argue that the $500 fine imposed on them violated the Constitution’s 27th Amendment — which prohibits compensation changes for members of Congress from taking effect until after the next election cycle.

“The attorneys in our lawsuit against Speaker Pelosi just filed a Petition for Cert at the Supreme Court,” Massie wrote on X. “Pelosi imposed salary reductions on me, [Greene], and [Norman]  for our refusal to wear a mask in 2021. At issue: is the 27th amdt. to the Constitution even enforceable?”

“When we filed this lawsuit against Pelosi’s mask mandate, I said we would take it to the Supreme Court if necessary, and that is what it has finally come to,” he added in a separate post. 

Massie and Greene trashed warning letters sent to them by Pelosi about their lack of mask wearing in 2021. AP

The US District Court for D.C. dismissed the trio’s lawsuit against Pelosi, former House Sergeant at Arms William Walker and House Chief Administrative Officer Catherine Szpindor last year.

The court ruled that the former House speaker and officials were immune from lawsuits under the Constitution’s Speech and Debate Clause, which shields lawmakers who are carrying out their duties from lawsuits. 

The dismissal was upheld by the DC Circuit Court of Appeals earlier this year. 

“If we accept the logic applied by the lower courts, the 27th amendment to the Constitution is unenforceable and therefore dead,” Massie said in a statement provided to The Post. 

“We are hopeful the Supreme Court will hear our plea, because the lower courts’ effective nullification of the 27th amendment creates a serious Constitutional issue that must be resolved,” the Kentucky Republican added. 

Thomas Massie and Marjorie Taylor Greene.
The lawmakers argue that the fines violated the 27th Amendment. Getty Images

Pandemic-era rules on masking implemented by Pelosi required that House members must keep their faces covered in the chamber except when speaking during debates. Failure to follow the rule would result in a fine of $500 for a first offense and $2,500 for a second offense.

In 2021, Massie tweeted an image of a warning letter he received from Pelosi about mask-wearing rules chucked in his office trash can.

“Just filed [Pelosi’s] letter warning me to follow her mask rule,” he wrote at the time. 

Similarly, Taylor Greene posted a video in which she ran her letter through a shredder.

“You can’t discriminate against people simply because they won’t wear a mask,” she said in the video, “and today, I refused to wear a mask on the House floor and I received a warning from Speaker Pelosi that leads to fines if I continue to refuse to wear a mask. Well, here’s what I think of your warning, Speaker Pelosi.”