A three-judge panel on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected a court challenge from Republicans in the House including Georgia’s Marjorie Taylor Greene over a mask mandate that was imposed when Nancy Pelosi was still Speaker.
The three judges rejected the push on the basis of what is known as the Speech or Debate Clause, which broadly protects actions taken as part of the official duties of a member of Congress from certain forms of legal scrutiny. Though those protections have often emerged in, for instance, proceedings more directly related to a vote or legislation-tied action taken as a member of Congress, the provisions also cover procedural actions that a member or officer in the House might take. Thus, a remaining legal challenge against the previous implementation of a security screening process for entering the House chamber that included walking through a magnetometer seems like it’ll end similarly, with a win for leadership — at least as it stood, since the House’s control flipped.
“In sum, the Speaker, Sergeant-at-Arms, and Chief Administrative Officer have immunity from suit because the adoption and execution of the Resolution are legislative acts protected by the Speech or Debate Clause,” the Trump-nominated judge who wrote the new opinion in Greene’s case said, as highlighted by POLITICO. The lawsuit featured two other Republican House members as plaintiffs, a group that also included Reps. Ralph Norman (S.C.) and Thomas Massie (Ky.), all of whom are generally in the same ideological corner as each other. Greene and Norman were both accused of texting with Mark Meadows after the 2020 election about the possibility of martial law… though it was misspelled and though Greene distanced herself more personally from the possibility circulating out there.
Elsewhere, attempts to challenge a system also originating under Pelosi’s leadership that allowed members to cast votes by proxy also failed in court. In other words, Nancy continues notching wins even out of the Speakership! Republicans can appeal this decision.
