Several Republican lawmakers threw fits over new metal detectors at the Capitol
To get to the floor of the House, members of Congress now have to go through metal detectors, and this was too much for some Republican lawmakers to handle.
The metal detectors were set up by Capitol Police on Tuesday, nearly a week after the Capitol riot, and all House members, staffers, and aides must walk through them. In a memo, Acting House Sergeant-at-Arms Timothy Blodgett said the metal detectors were installed to ensure everyone is in compliance with regulations banning guns and incendiary devices from the chamber, CNN reports.
"There have been increasing tensions with certain incoming freshmen for months, who have been insistent on bringing firearms in violation of law and guidelines," one House Democrat told CNN, referring to Republican Reps. Lauren Boebert (Colo.) and Madison Cawthorn (N.C.). Last week, Cawthorn told a news outlet that when a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol, he was armed, while Boebert has been boasting for weeks that she would carry her handgun at all times.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
On Tuesday, Boebert set off a metal detector, then refused to show Capitol Police officers what was in her bag; after a brief standoff, she was let through. Boebert wasn't the only one to cause a scene:
Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-Ariz.) immediately fired off an angry tweet, saying lawmakers are "being wanded like criminals! We now live in [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi's communist America!" Lesko and the rest of the anti-metal detector crowd got no sympathy from Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), who said they now know how high school students in her district feel. "Suck it up buttercups," she added. "Y'all brought this on yourselves." Catherine Garcia
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Judge blocks Louisiana 10 Commandments law
Speed Read U.S. District Judge John deGravelles ruled that a law ordering schools to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms was unconstitutional
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
ATF finalizes rule to close 'gun show loophole'
Speed Read Biden moves to expand background checks for gun buyers
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Hong Kong passes tough new security law
Speed Read It will allow the government to further suppress all forms of dissent
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
France enshrines abortion rights in constitution
speed read It became the first country to make abortion a constitutional right
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Texas executes man despite contested evidence
Speed Read Texas rejected calls for a rehearing of Ivan Cantu's case amid recanted testimony and allegations of suppressed exculpatory evidence
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Supreme Court wary of state social media regulations
Speed Read A majority of justices appeared skeptical that Texas and Florida were lawfully protecting the free speech rights of users
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Greece legalizes same-sex marriage
Speed Read Greece becomes the first Orthodox Christian country to enshrine marriage equality in law
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Trump and his lawyer Alina Habba have a rough day in defamation court
Speed Read Trump's audible grousing as E. Jean Carroll testified earned him a warning he could be thrown out of court, and Habba showed she 'doesn't know what the hell she's doing'
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published