Rep. Louie Gohmert files suit against House officials for metal detector fine

WASHINGTON –– Rep. Louie Gohmert of Tyler is suing House of Representatives administrative officials for “unjust and unconstitutional” fines, the latest twist in his ongoing quest to upend a House rule that makes members of Congress pass through metal detectors in the U.S. Capitol.

Gohmert and fellow Republican Rep. Andrew Clyde, of Georgia, have filed suit in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia against two House officials – Sergeant in Arms William Walker and Catherine Szpindor, Chief Administrative Officer. The lawsuit protests a $5,000 fine levied on Gohmert and Clyde by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, for evading the metal detectors outside the House chamber.

The lawsuit states that the officials threatened the rights of Gohmert and Clyde by “selectively and punitively enforcing a rule against only Republican Representatives” and “engaging in the constitutionally-prohibited reduction of Plaintiffs’ congressional salaries as a means of harassing democratically-elected Representatives who are members of the opposition party.”

It also accuses them of hampering the ability of Republicans to reach the House floor for votes.

Gohmert had previously appealed the $5,000 fine in February, but the House Ethics Committee upheld the fine.

The House adopted the metal detector rule in early February, with zero Republicans casting a vote in its favor. Gohmert and Clyde were the first lawmakers to be fined for the offense. Under the rule, lawmakers that refuse to comply with the security measure would be fined $5,000 for the first offense and $10,000 for each subsequent offense.

Members are able to appeal a fine before the House Ethics Committee. But if they fail to pay the fine after 90 days, the amount will be deducted from their pay.

Gohmert has decried the fine’s amount as crushing to someone of lesser means.

“Speaker Pelosi has instituted an unconstitutional policy of enforcing the Screening Rule against only members of the Republican minority in the House of Representatives, and exempting members of the Democratic majority from its enforcement, resulting in only Republican members being fined and having their congressional salaries reduced, all for the purpose of creating a false narrative for the political benefit of the House Democratic majority,” the lawsuit states.