WASHINGTON — Magnetometers have been installed outside the House floor for the first time ever, the latest fallout from last week’s violent attack on the Capitol in which insurrectionists breached both the House and Senate chambers.

“Effective immediately, all persons, including members, are required to undergo security screening when entering the House chamber,” says a memo from the House Sergeant-at-Arms office.

Metal detectors were erected outside the chamber Tuesday afternoon on the second floor of the Capitol, where House members are usually able to move freely, in large groups and without scrutiny.

Lawmakers are warned that “failure to complete screening or the carrying of prohibited items could result in denial of access to the chamber.”

Pretty amazing to watch Republican Members of Congress, after the week that Capitol Police has had, push their way past officers and not follow rules about metal detectors on the floor.

— Matt Fuller (@MEPFuller) January 13, 2021

While magnetometers scan staff, visitors, media and all other entrants at every single external door of the Capitol and office buildings, lawmakers bypass those perimeter checkpoints, stepping around the machines and usually giving a wave to the Capitol Police officers at their station. Now they will need to go through them to access the floor of the House.

The additional security also comes after three freshman GOP lawmakers, Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, have made clear their intention to carry their own firearms wherever they please.

RIGHT NOW-> Congresswoman Lauren Boebert, who has bragged about her desire to carry a weapon on Capital Hill is currently in a standoff with Capitol Police at the newly installed Metal Detectors outside the chamber doors.

— Ryan Nobles (@ryanobles) January 13, 2021

A 1967 regulation exempts members of Congress from a federal law banning firearms on the Capitol grounds. The weapons are still prohibited on the floor.

“Members are reminded that pursuant to the firearms regulations that Members received on opening day, firearms are restricted to a members’ office,” reads the SAA memo.

Cawthorn didn’t adhere to that guidance on Jan. 6, telling the Smoky Mountain News that when the violent mob breached the Capitol, he had his firearm with him.

He pointed out that his evacuation was more isolated and less protected by Capitol Police due to being in a wheelchair and needing an accessible route to safety.

“Fortunately, I was armed, so we would have been able to protect ourselves,” Cawthorn told the North Carolina news site on Jan. 7.

Earlier this year, Boebert led a letter signed by more than 80 Republicans urging Speaker Nancy Pelosi and GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy to stick with the 1967 regulations and not impose stricter limits on Capitol grounds.

“If Members can’t carry on Capitol grounds, they can’t protect themselves in D.C. while making their way to and from their offices to perform their official duties,” the lawmakers wrote. “The ‘last-mile’ transition of self-protection is critical.”

Rep. Steve Scalise, the No. 2 Republican, told me that the situation is “untenable” because it “impedes the ability of members to come and vote. This is our job.” These are the lines pic.twitter.com/Z6WP9ZXmC0

— Manu Raju (@mkraju) January 13, 2021

Magnetometers are also being installed on the third floor to put members of the media through additional screening before entering the chamber to cover action in the House.

The process for obtaining press credentials to cover Congress requires an application for full-time, paid correspondents of recognized news organizations. Journalists are granted a hard pass if their application is accepted.

Reporters, press credential in-hand, already go through a magnetometer, staffed with several Capitol Police officers, to gain entry into the Capitol.

The journey to the House Daily Press Gallery includes at least one more checkpoint with officers usually checking IDs. Now, those who have been vetted to access press gallery will have to undergo an added layer of scrutiny to do their jobs.

While covid-19 has left the visitors galleries empty, additional screening was added for tourists entering the chamber in 2016 and 2017.

The Sergeant-at-Arms memo on security also included a reminder that lawmakers could be removed from the House floor or barred entrance if they do not wear a mask.

Under new regulations, noncompliance with the mask requirement on the House floor would result in a $500 fine for the first offense and $2,500 for the second offense, according to a senior House Democratic aide.

Members will not be allowed to use their office funds to pay the fine. Instead, the fines will be deducted from members’ paychecks.

The new enforcement and punishment mechanism was tucked into a House Rules resolution governing the consideration of Rep. Jamie Raskin’s measure calling on Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment and seek to declare President Donald Trump unfit for office.

The enforcement measure comes as at least three members have tested positive for covid-19 since Wednesday’s chaos after members crowded into a hiding place with hundreds of other legislators and staff, and some Republican lawmakers refused to wear masks.

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