The rules are clear: weapons have been banned from the House Chamber for over 50 years. But some of my Republican colleagues think they're above the rules. So we're taking steps to fine members who interfere with the Capitol Police metal detectors outside the House Floor.
A member of Congress recently tweeted, “Let me tell you why I WILL carry my Glock to Congress.” Another bragged he “was armed” during the insurrection. A third was stopped by Capitol Police bringing a gun into the chamber.
There are members of Congress who posted disturbing rhetoric against other members. Their words and actions raise serious safety concerns. And apparently, it will take a rules change to ensure people here follow the rules, just like everyone else. So we are taking action.
The fine will be paid directly by the Member. $5,000 for the first offense and $10,000 for each offense thereafter.
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Democrats do not control the House of Representatives. You tried to do something that was out of order and a Republican Member of Congress said your request was improper. ⬇️
Now that I’ve had time to think through what you sprung on everyone, I caught some big procedural loopholes:
1) You would have given the speaker the authority to postpone the vote.
2) You would have allowed the speaker to NEVER send the bill to the Senate (which Johnson did a dozen times last Congress).
Here's the rule from our discharge petition which prevents those things, in case you didn't read it: congress.gov/119/bills/hres…
First, the bottom line: unless the House re-votes to fix Republicans’ mistakes, THE BILL IS DEAD.
Why? When Republicans rushed to finalize their awful bill in the middle of the night they accidentally included some provisions that aren’t allowed to be in the bill under the Senate’s rules for budget reconciliation.
1/ USAID is an agency that saves lives, fights hunger, and strengthens democracy. It’s also an investment in the American people.
Let’s talk about what USAID actually does—and why it makes America safer, stronger, and more respected in the world. 🧵
2/ USAID fights child mortality. Since 2008, it has saved 4.6 million children and 200,000 mothers. When kids thrive, families and communities grow stronger. Healthier societies means more global stability, which enhances our own security.
3/ USAID helps fight diseases like malaria and AIDS. Since 2007, it has saved 6 million lives from malaria and helped 9.5 million people get HIV/AIDS treatment. Fighting disease abroad protects Americans at home from pandemics.
2/ First, some history. In the middle of COVID, I led efforts to allow Members of Congress who couldn’t physically attend due to the public health emergency to vote remotely so that their constituents would still be represented. It worked. rollcall.com/2024/01/29/end…
3/ Speaker Johnson is right that he joined a lawsuit claiming voting by proxy was unconstitutional, but that's not the whole story.
First, he LOST! The district court dismissed the lawsuit. The Appeals Court agreed. The Supreme Court wouldn’t hear it. His view lost. Full stop.
1/ Let’s set the record straight on the Laken Riley Act, because I’m hearing a lot of people who say they support this bill, but who don't seem to know what it really does.
2/ First things first, if you are undocumented and arrested or convicted of a felony, you're already subject to detention and deportation. That’s already on the books. It’s a good law, I agree with it, and it should be enforced.
3/ That’s not what this bill is about. This bill targets people who have been accused of shoplifting. Not rapists and murderers like the monster who killed Laken Riley. People accused of shoplifting.
Today the @HouseGOP put out their rules for the next two years of Congress.
If you thought their dysfunction, disorganization, and disarray was bad before, buckle up, because it’s about to get even worse. A 🧵…
You’d think House Republicans might look at their failures and try to change course by working with Democrats, as we’ve been asking, to address the major problems facing our country.
You’d think. But you’d be wrong.
First, by injecting partisan extremism into the rules, Republicans are totally destroying the role of Speaker of the House.
Their proposed changes would, for the first time in history, shield the Speaker from accountability to the entire chamber by making it so that only Republicans can move to vacate the chair.
This makes it clear that they have no intention of working together to find common ground. Instead of electing a Speaker of the House, they decided to elect a Speaker of the Republican Conference—held hostage by their most extreme members.