As states across the country are at last rolling back vaccine and mask mandates, the GOP in Washington is demanding that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi D-Calif., remove the Capitol mask mandate.
According to Rep. Andy Biggs R-Ariz., he, along with 29 colleagues in the House, have sent a letter to Speaker Pelosi to pressure her to rescind the mask mandate.
Further, Rep. Biggs and his associates are also demanding that Pelosi reopen the Capitol to the public. “It’s time to reopen,” Biggs stated in a tweet posted to Twitter on Friday. Additionally, in a report from Fox News, Biggs stated that, “This has gone on long enough. There is no reason to keep our Capitol closed and to continue enforcing the draconian mask mandate.”
Biggs’ call to end the mask mandate in the Capitol Building is occurring as governors across America take strides toward eliminating masking altogether. For example, newly elected Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed a bill on Wednesday banning mask mandates in every public school in the state, according to a previous report from RSBN.
The Capitol mask mandate has been often pushed back on by Republicans, with the following eight members of the House being issued fines for refusing to wear a mask in the chamber according to The Hill: Reps. Mary Miller (Ill.), Mariannette Miller-Meeks (Iowa). Chip Roy (Texas), Thomas Massie (Ky.), Ralph Norman (S.C.), Brian Mast (Fla.), Beth Van Duyne (Texas) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.).
Rep. Biggs’ letter to Pelosi states that the mask mandate is, “anti-science, ineffective, and tyrannical, and they must end now.” He continues, “It is long past time to return the People’s House to the American people. We should join the rest of the country and end these authoritarian mandates.”
According to Fox News, Pelosi’s response simply stated that the decisions about ending masking and reopening the Capitol are not in her hands.