Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene hit with four more fines for breaking House rule by refusing to wear a mask

By Mariana Alfaro,

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) faced four more fines Monday for refusing to wear a mask on the House floor and has racked up at least $15,500 in fines for violating the pandemic-dictated rule.

Greene has been cited at least seven times for breaking the House rule, which was established in January. Members are fined $500 for their first offense and $2,500 for each subsequent offense. The fines are deducted from their congressional pay of $174,000 annually.

According to a Monday news release from the House Ethics Committee, Greene was disciplined four times in late September for failing to wear a mask. The committee had previously made public three earlier occasions in which Greene was fined for breaking the same rule — another time in September, once in August and a first offense in May.

In a statement Monday, Greene stood by her opposition to masks, which health professionals say can slow the spread of the deadly coronavirus in public settings. Mask-wearing has become highly politicized, especially after former president Donald Trump repeatedly refused to wear a mask.

Greene railed against “communist Democrats” and “tyrannical dictators” with mandates and lockdowns.

“I will continue my stand on the House floor against authoritarian Democrat mandates, because I don’t want the American people to stand alone,” she said.

Nick Dyer, a spokesman for Greene, said the congresswoman has been fined almost two dozen times for not wearing a mask, resulting in $48,000 in fines. An Oct. 28 letter from Sergeant-at-Arms William Walker to Greene reviewed by The Washington Post shows that Greene has been observed not wearing a mask in the House that many times since May 18.

Last month, Greene tweeted that she had racked up more than $25,000 in mask fines.

Of the seven citations Greene has received listed online by the House Ethics Committee, she has only filed an appeal for one.

[House ejects Marjorie Taylor Greene from committees over extremist remarks]

The mask rule was established at the recommendation of Capitol attending physician Brian P. Monahan. While it was lifted for a few weeks in mid-June, it was put back in place in July, when the delta variant led to a rise in coronavirus cases. The Senate, meanwhile, has never required masks.

Greene has repeatedly complained online about the House mask fines, tweeting in July that Monahan “has no authority” to fine members of Congress, and saying House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is acting like an “authoritarian.”

The congresswoman has also constantly criticized national mask guidances during the pandemic. Over the summer, she compared mask policies to the Nazi practice of labeling Jews with Star of David badges. She apologized for her statement in June as she faced a House censorship resolution.

During the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, Greene was not wearing a mask while hiding in a secure room with other House members. Some Democrats in that group tested positive for the virus soon after. Greene told Fox News it was “insane” for Democrats to blame those infections on maskless Republicans.