[Photo Credit: By Diliff - Self-published work by Diliff, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=558744]

McCarthy to Open Capitol to Public in January

Incoming Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy has announced he will open the United States Capitol to the public when the GOP takes the majority in January.

The Capitol has been closed for fear of sickness since 2020 and many security measures are being installed due to January 6th, The Daily Caller reports.

The security state in Washington, DC has been growing since September 11th, diminishing the majestic city’s beauty over the decades.

Nancy Pelosi used her power to continue that trend over the last two years, but Representative McCarthy (R-CA) is going to put a stop to it.

The report continues:

Over the 117th Congress, much of the Capitol, particularly the House of Representatives, remained inaccessible to members of the public. The galleries of both chambers, as well as access to offices and public tour spots like the rotunda, were closed due to COVID-19, while security measures, such as non-scalable fencing, which was later removed, were put in place after Jan. 6, 2021 to further limited access, according to Politico.

Opening the Capitol to the public would be “one of the first orders of business,” McCarthy wrote on Twitter. Members of the public may gain access to the galleries through normal procedures as well as obtain tickets from members, a measure that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi suspended following the storming of the Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021.

McCarthy is also likely to rescind a controversial decision to place metal detectors outside the House chamber doors, with all members required to pass through them and those who refuse being fined beginning Jan. 12, 2021, per CNN. The Senate does not have such a requirement.

Pelosi introduced the measure after claiming that “the enemy is within the House of Representatives,” referring to several GOP lawmakers’ support for the Second Amendment and opposition to the results of the 2020 election, a statement in a 2021 press conference that provoked significant criticism from Republicans. McCarthy has expressed opposition to the measure as well as the fines imposed, which are $5,000 per offense and are deducted from members’ pay.

Litigation from Representatives Louie Gohmert of Texas and Andrew Clyde of Georgie for fines they received for not using the detectors.

They argue that it violates the 27th Amendment which prohibits: “laws varying the compensation of Senators and Representatives.”

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