Texas Rep. Beth Van Duyne’s loses appeal, fined for violating U.S. House’s mask rule

Rep. Beth Van Duyne will have to pay a $500 fine for refusing to wear a mask during a May protest on the House’s mask rules.

Seven Republicans were issued warnings for violating the mask rules, while three Republicans, including Van Duyne, were fined $500 for violating the mask rules a second time. Van Duyne, of Irving, had previously violated the mask rules on May 13.

At issue was the chamber’s requirement that all members wear masks regardless of vaccination status. After the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated guidance on May 13 to allow vaccinated people to go maskless in most spaces, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., kept the chamber’s mask rules, saying it was unclear how many members had been vaccinated.

“It’s evident now that enforcement of any mask rule has become a partisan, political issue, rather than one grounded in science,” Van Duyne wrote in her appeal.

Two days after the Republican action, Pelosi explained her reasoning behind the rules after House Republicans, led by Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., tried to change the mask rules.

“We have a responsibility to make sure of that the House of Representatives chamber is not a petri dish because of the selfishness of some not to be vaccinated,” Pelosi said at a May 20 press conference.

Under House rules, a member who is cited for a rules violation can appeal the decision to the House Committee on Ethics. The committee has 30 days to consider the appeal. A majority of the committee’s members can vote to accept the appeal.

By the time Van Duyne’s 30-day window expired last week, the committee had not agreed to her appeal.

“While I am disappointed our appeal was denied, I’m glad my message to follow the science finally got through to Nancy Pelosi as she no longer mandates masks on the floor of the House. But now, she must reopen the entire House to everyone so visiting Americans aren’t turned away,” Van Duyne said in a statement Friday.

The House attending physician updated the chamber’s guidelines on June 9, allowing vaccinated members and staff to forgo mask-wearing and social distancing.