Illinois Democratic state lawmakers voted Thursday afternoon to remove nine Republican members from the House floor for their refusal to comply with face-covering requirements, delaying the start of the legislative session for the third straight day by creating drama over House’s self-imposed COVID-19 mitigations.
The motion to remove the nine Republicans, which passed largely along party lines on a 66-39 vote, was introduced by the Democratic Representative Lakesia Collins, stressing that she’s only asking GOP lawmakers to simply follow the rules of the Chamber.
Collins underlined that every minute they waste talking to Republicans whining about wearing a mask, Illinois residents are still suffering and need their help.
During debate on the motion, GOP Rep. Tony McCombie, who was among the unmasked Republicans instructed to leave the chamber, told Democrats to mind their own business and mitigate their own risk.
The unmasked GOP reps speaking on the floor criticized the Democratic representatives’ hypocrisy, as they called it, citing the fact that they’re frequently seen out in public at fundraising events without masks.
The removed Republicans were accompanied by most of their caucus upon exiting the floor, heading to an hour-long private caucus meeting before mask-compliant members returned.
While most of the unmasked reps chose to rejoin the legislative session remotely, over Zoom after that action, she remained on the floor, unmasked, without incident for the remainder of the Thursday session.
The tense episode in Illinois echoed Democrats’ frustrations in Congress as Republicans continue to defy the stepped-up health protocols in the US Capitol and refuse to adhere to mask mandates.
As of January, Georgia Republican Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Andrew Clyde had racked up nearly $90,000 – or roughly half Greene’s congressional salary – and at least $58,000 in fines, respectively, for refusing to wear masks on the House floor.
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