Coronavirus: Trump allies rebuked by colleagues for not wearing masks during relief bill debate

‘While we are all trying to show how fearless we are, we should be mindful of the people surrounding us,’ Democratic congressman tells defiant GOP colleagues

Ohio Republican congressman Jim Jordan famously does not like wearing a jacket during committee hearings or floor proceedings unless he absolutely has to.

Apparently that preference for eschewing the jacket applies to face masks as well.

Mr Jordan and at least two other Republican House members did not wear masks on Thursday during a floor debate, a trend that has angered their Democratic colleagues in recent days.

GOP congressmen Louie Gohmert of Texas and James Comer of Kentucky were the other two seen without face coverings, according to CNN’s Manu Raju.

“The infuriating part of this is that GOP members of Congress are defying science and medical advice, and placing others at risk,” Pennsylvania congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon wrote on Twitter, retweeting Mr Raju’s message.

The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that Americans wear “cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain (eg, grocery stores and pharmacies), especially in areas of significant community-based transmission.”

Even if someone is not showing symptoms of Covid-19, they should still wear a face covering “to slow the spread of the virus and help people who may have the virus and do not know it from transmitting it to others,” the CDC recommends.

After Mr Jordan delivered his speech at the podium without a face covering, House rules chairman Jim McGovern, who was managing floor debate at the time, appealed to his defiant GOP colleagues to wear masks even though they are not mandatory.

“While face coverings are not mandatory, they are certainly recommended. And the Office of the Attending Physician has also advised that a face covering will produce a minimum reduction in sound when using a microphone. The face covering is likely to be most useful in preventing a viral spread when a person is speaking. So people can do whatever they want to do,” Mr McGovern said.

But he added: “I would say that while we are all trying to show how fearless we are, we should be mindful of the people surrounding us.”

The House convened for the first time in weeks on Thursday to debate two bills to provide $484bn (£392bn) in federal relief for the coronavirus pandemic and to establish a select committee to oversee the federal response to the crisis.

On Wednesday, Mr Jordan drew criticism from Democratic congressman Jamie Raskin of Maryland for not wearing a mask at a Rules Committee Hearing on proposed the select committee on the coronavirus crisis.

Mr Jordan and Mr Raskin were speaking over one another in a heated exchange during Mr Raskin’s allotted five minutes at the hearing.

“You might not be wearing a mask, but you adhere to the rules of this committee while you’re here, Mr Jordan, OK?” Mr Raskin said, claiming back his time wasted amid the cross-talk.

The House is taking numerous extra precautions to help maintain social distancing and proper hygiene during the votes on Thursday, including voting in roughly 60-member groupings and urging members to stay in their respective offices when they are not voting.