*Remember how House Democrats live streamed their sit-in for sensible gun laws after Speaker Paul Ryan cut off C-SPAN’s cameras from filming it live?
The Republicans have now proposed new legislation that would make it against the rules for members to stream live or post photos from the floor of the chamber, according to Variety.
The newly proposed policy, backed by Rep. Ryan, R-Wis., is seen as a direct response to the sit-in mounted last June in an effort to force a vote on gun control legislation that had been blocked by Republicans. The Dems were demanding a House vote on a no-fly-no-buy gun bill in the wake of the Orlando nightclub murder of 49 people.
Rep. Ryan cut off the C-SPAN live-feed cameras that normally broadcast the floor. Later, when lawmakers reconvened, Democratic members still refused to budge, forming a circle in the well of the floor and live streaming via Facebook Live and Periscope.
The new proposed rules would fine members $500 for live broadcasting or photos sent from the House floor. The fine would rise to $2,500 for subsequent offenses. The fines would be deducted from each members’ salary, according to NBC News.
“These changes will help ensure that order and decorum are preserved in the House of Representatives so lawmakers can do the people’s work,” Ryan spokeswoman Ashlee Strong said in a statement, per NBC News.
The proposed rule will be voted on by the full House when it returns to session in early January. Some Democrats, not surprisingly, are vowing to fight it. Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., was among those who took to Twitter to blast Republicans for the proposed rule change.
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