One Thing Lawmakers Won't Bicker Over at the State of the Union: Masks

(Bloomberg) -- There will be one less thing to divide Congress when lawmakers convene for President Joe Biden's State of the Union address Tuesday: masks.

Brian Monahan, the Capitol's attending physician, announced over the weekend that masks would no longer be required on the House floor. It follows new guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which eases most Covid-era restrictions for regions experiencing low transmission rates and a decrease in hospitalizations.

And on Monday, The White House followed suit. People who are fully vaccinated will no longer need to wear face coverings when on campus grounds, according to a press release.

“The coronavirus pandemic has not ended but moved into a different phase that reflects vaccine and post recovery immunity, availability of effective prevention and therapeutic drug strategies and decreased severity of disease for most people,” Monahan said.

Nearly a quarter of the country, including Washington, D.C., is currently in the CDC's low-risk category, Monahan's memo said. And case counts are continuing to fall nationwide after a winter surge driven by the highly contagious omicron variant – though risk remains high for immunocompromised people.

Monahan's updated guidance is a major shift from just two weeks ago, when House Sergeant at Arms William Walker outlined rules for attendance at the State of the Union which included social distancing, KN95 or N95 masks and capacity limits. Failure to comply would have resulted in a fine.

The city of Washington until recently required both masks and proof of vaccination for most indoor venues, but the federal government has struggled to enforce similar rules inside the Capitol.

Though masks have not been required in the U.S. Senate, they've still been a hot-button policy issue. And for the House of Representatives, where masks are a requirement, they've been a flashpoint for polarization.

“The masks were always political,” Republican Jim Jordan of Ohio wrote on Twitter following the announcement.

The masks were always political.
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) February 28, 2022

Some House Republicans have flagrantly violated mask recommendations. Georgia Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene and Andrew Clyde have both racked up thousands of dollars in mask-related fines. And, as of December, eight other Republican lawmakers had been slapped with the House's $500 first-offense fee, according to records.

A negative test will still be required for entry to the joint session of Congress Tuesday and some lawmakers may still choose to keep their face coverings on. The CDC, Office of the Attending Physician and The White House have all reiterated that for immunocompromised people, who are still at greater risk of infection, masking remains a highly effective tool.