Republican leaders on Tuesday proposed slapping members of Congress with fines and other penalties if they disrupt proceedings on the House floor, a belated response to the sit-in led by Atlanta Democrat John Lewis earlier this year.
Under the proposed changes to the chamber's rules offered by Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., lawmakers would have their wages garnished by $500 for taking pictures, recording audio or video or streaming video on the House floor. Members would face a $2,500 wage deduction for each additional offense.
The proposed changes, first reported by Bloomberg, also spell out what constitutes disorderly behavior on the floor. Such offenses could lead to referrals to the House Ethics Committee and sanctions for lawmakers.
GOP leaders have been under pressure to punish Democrats, including Lewis, for taking over the House floor for nearly 26 hours in June to protest congressional inaction on gun violence legislation. After Republicans declared a recess and shut off C-SPAN's cameras, Democrats began live-streaming their colleagues' speeches on social media, which gave their effort considerable attention.
The protest failed to compel Republican leaders to agree to votes on a pair of proposals to expand background checks for firearms and bar those on the terror watch list from buying guns. The GOP-led Senate rejected similar proposals earlier this year.
Ryan previously called the episode a "stunt," citing a similar measure that was voted down in a key House committee in the days preceding the sit-in. He also pointed out an effort by the Democratic Party to raise money off the events on the House floor.
The GOP’s proposed changes to the House rules would apply to future breaches of decorum and not the June sit-in.
A spokesman for Lewis did not return requests for comment Tuesday.
The civil rights icon and longtime Atlanta congressman was unmoved by similar threats of discipline in the past.
"I've been punished on other occasions," Lewis said in an interview in September. "And it makes it stronger."
Other Democrats were defiant.
A spokesman for House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., compared House Republicans to “handmaidens of the gun lobby” on Tuesday.
“Speaker Ryan can continue to shamefully ignore the calls for action from the American people but House Democrats will never stop speaking out against the daily tragedy of gun violence in this country,” Drew Hammill said in a statement.
California Democrat Eric Swalwell’s Twitter response was more succinct.
“I’ll always stand w/ victims,” he wrote of gun violence survivors. “Bring.It.On.”
Ryan spokeswoman AshLee Strong said the proposed changes “will help ensure that order and decorum are preserved in the House of Representatives so lawmakers can do the people’s work.”
House lawmakers must sign off on the proposed changes before they become official. Members will vote on the chamber’s rules for the new session shortly after the new Congress convenes on Jan. 3.
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