Monday MMR April 15 2014: Prescient & Accounted For

What happens in Congress stays in Congress, the Supreme Court signaled on Monday, as it turned away an appeal by three Republican congressmen who were fined $5,000 each by the House for dodging security scanners installed after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.



The court’s decision comes months after justices snubbed the case of three other GOP members of Congress who had their pay docked in 2021 for flouting a mask mandate on the House floor during the COVID pandemic.



In the current case, Reps. Andrew Clyde, R-Georgia, Lloyd Smucker, R-Penn., and former Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas had asked the high court to intervene over the “massive fines” they incurred for ignoring magnetometers set up outside the House chamber after rioters assaulted the Capitol in a violent attempt at thwarting certification of President Joe Biden’s election.



The scanners were controversial at the time and the House rule to install them passed by a handful of votes. "It is beyond comprehension why any member would refuse to adhere to these simple, commonsense steps to keep this body safe," Nancy Pelosi, then the House Speaker, said following the vote.



Two weeks after the Capitol attack, news outlets reported that Rep. Andy Harris, Republican of Maryland, had been turned away from the chamber after a scanner revealed he was carrying a concealed handgun.