Press Releases
ICYMI: House GOPers Say Pelosi Has No Plan to Bring House Back Safely as Rest of America Returns to Work
June 15, 2020
WASHINGTON - Committee on House Administration members Rodney Davis (R-Ill.), Mark Walker (R-N.C.), and Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.) sent a letter last week criticizing Speaker Pelosi for not having a transparent plan with clear guidance, timelines, and benchmarks to transition to a phased reopening of the House. The letter asks that support assistance be made to offices so staff and members can work safely. The House is scheduled to begin its first full week of session since the pandemic began next Thursday.
The Epoch Times reported on the members' letter and that the Speaker's office declined to comment. Read excerpts from the article below or click here to read it in full.
House GOPers Say Pelosi Has No Plan to Bring House Back Safely as Rest of America Returns to Work
BY MARK TAPSCOTT June 15, 2020 Updated: June 15, 2020
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has no plan to bring the lower chamber of Congress back to work in the nation's capital until 2021, according to Republicans on the committee that administers the House of Representatives.
"As an overwhelming majority of the country, including Washington, D.C., has moved into phased physical re-openings, the House's operating status has not changed," House Administration Committee Ranking Republican Rep. Rodney Davis (R-IL) told Pelosi in a June 12 letter obtained by The Epoch Times.
Also signing the letter with Davis were Representatives Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.) and Mark Walker (R-N.C.), the other Republicans on the administration panel that is chaired by Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.).
"The numerous congressional district offices that have reopened throughout the country have done so with little to no support because of failure to provide support in real time," the letter continued.
"Furthermore, a transparent plan with clear guidance, timelines, and benchmarks to support a transition to phased reopening has not been made available to offices.
"This has resulted in unnecessary confusion and led many to conclude that House Democrats have no plans of physically showing up to do their job for the remainder of this Congress."
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A spokesman for Davis said his office has not received a response from Pelosi, and a Pelosi spokesman declined a request from The Epoch Times for comment on the letter.
Pelosi's spokesman deferred the request to House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) whose "office manages the floor schedule." Hoyer answers to Pelosi, who as Speaker has the final authority to control House proceedings.
The three Republicans told Pelosi they know of no official plan to make the hundreds of offices and support facilities in the Cannon, Longworth and Rayburn House Office Buildings safe from the CCP Virus.
Most House members have Capitol Hill office suites consisting of three large rooms in which anywhere from 15 to 18 staff members work, as well as varying numbers of offices and staff members working in their home districts.
In addition to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), Library of Congress and Government Accountability Office (GAO) staffs and offices, there are also multiple other support staffs that work preparing food, delivering mail, managing parking facilities, overseeing media services, and a host of other activities required to keep the House functioning.
The Capitol Hill Police have continued working throughout the current session of Congress despite the absence of most members and staffs.
"The House must now play catch up to establish specific occupancy recommendations; retrofit and reconfigure spaces; support implementing health monitoring programs, including some level of testing; establish service level agreements for House support offerings and making common sense adjustments, like the acceptance of digital signatures for routine transactions; provide reopening guidelines for House facilities, such as daycare, fitness centers, and others; adjust business processes for events and visitors; and provide adequate support for committee activities," Davis, Walker, and Loudermilk said in their letter to Pelosi.
"In the limited time remaining in the 116th Congress, there are many important issues that Congress needs to address. We should not be wasting time by making it more difficult for members to do their jobs and should catch up with the rest of the country in a safe physical reopening of the House of Representatives," the three Republicans admonished Pelosi in their letter.
"We therefore ask that you immediately expedite the roll-out of support assistance to offices, making it possible for staff and members to work in a safe environment," they wrote.
The nation went on a national lockdown in March that saw all but the most essential businesses close and employees, including the more than 20,000 who work for Congress, begin working from home.
The 100 members of the U.S. Senate and 435 House members also stayed away from the Capitol complex for more than six weeks. The Republican-led Senate returned May 4, but Pelosi has not committed to a specific date on which she plans to bring the full House back into session in the House chamber on a permanent basis.
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House Republicans led by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) have sued in federal court claiming the proxy voting process adopted by House Democrats violates the Constitution's requirement that House members be physically present in the chamber to vote.