The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to take up a challenge from three GOP House members who had their pay docked over violating the chamber’s COVID-19 mask mandate.
Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia asked the justices last year to hear a challenge over whether constitutional rights and House rules were violated when they were docked $500 in pay after bucking mandatory mask wearing in May 2021.
They entered the House floor to vote without wearing masks, breaking the rule at the time.
The House rule, which was adopted in a narrow vote, was in effect during the 117th Congress under former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat. If a member didn’t wear a mask on the chamber floor, he or she would be fined $500 for the first offense and $2,500 for any subsequent offense.
The rule went out of enforcement in February 2022.
Lower courts dismissed their legal challenge, prompting the three GOP lawmakers to ask the high court to consider it.
Without comment, the justices turned the challenge away in their Tuesday orders.
It would have taken four justices to vote in favor of the appeal for oral arguments to have been scheduled and the issue to be reviewed.
The House speaker, represented by the House general counsel, encouraged the justices not to take the case.
“This court, as a matter of interbranch comity, should not review an internal House rule that is no longer in effect and that regulated the conduct of members while they were in the House chamber,” the filing argued.
For more information, visit The Washington Times COVID-19 resource page.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
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