The House Ethics Committee upheld a $5,000 fine against Gohmert on Tuesday, March 30, 2021, after he was accused of failing to submit to a full security screening when entering the chamber's floor last month.
A letter by the Ethics committee rejecting an appeal by Gohmert was the first such letter it has issued under the new rules, suggesting he would be the first to pay the fine.
When an officer told him he needed to be checked with a wand, he walked onto the floor anyway “to engage in my turn to debate,” Gohmert wrote.
In a two-paragraph letter, the Ethics panel wrote, “A majority of the committee did not agree to the appeal,” the standard required to dismiss the fine.
The Ethics committee consists of five Democrats and five Republicans, and the letter did not provide details of the vote.