Well, this puts a new spin on fatigues.
Ahead of the House vote to impeach President Trump for inciting the deadly insurrection at the Capitol last week, National Guard members were spotted in the hallways of the Capitol building on Wednesday morning asleep after spending the night on the premises.
The move to impeach Trump for the second time is now a bipartisan effort. A handful of House Republicans, which includes its third-ranking member Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), have announced their plans to join Democrats in impeaching the President.
On Tuesday, acting Sergeant at Arms Timothy P. Blodgett announced that House members will have to walk through metal detectors and wear masks before they enter the House chamber. The safety measures were a response to the siege at the Capitol last week, which has raised serious questions about the safety of lawmakers, following threats of violence when rioters breached the halls of Congress and multiple Democrats having tested positive for COVID-19 — an outbreak they linked to the refusal by some House Republicans to wear masks while they were in lockdown with their fellow representatives, staff and reporters.
See the jarring photos of National Guard members getting some shut eye before the House is expected to impeach Trump:
— Emily Cochrane (@ESCochrane) January 13, 2021
I spotted the National Guard sleeping in the hallways of the Capitol as I walked in this morning. pic.twitter.com/PzVpQCo5yU
— Daniella Diaz (@DaniellaMicaela) January 13, 2021
While some GOP House members complain about having to walk through metal detectors, National Guard troops spent night sleeping on marble floors of the Capitol. pic.twitter.com/7odvIkoBOQ
— Greg Miller (@gregpmiller) January 13, 2021
This is our National Guard, sleeping in the halls of the Capitol today, as captured by my colleague @DaniellaMicaela. And unlike House members who choose to stay in their offices to either save money or make some kind of a point, they have no House gym or shower to use. pic.twitter.com/4wh9JhxkWO
— Jeff Zeleny (@jeffzeleny) January 13, 2021
Well this is something I thought I’d never see. National Guard members getting rest in the Capitol, guns by their sides, under the busts of Lincoln and Washington. pic.twitter.com/CVDshN76eY
— Ben Riley-Smith (@benrileysmith) January 13, 2021
Members of the National Guard are on hand at the U.S. Capitol as the House debates impeaching President Trump for the second time.
Live updates ? https://t.co/sZ0MF0eHy6
? Stephen Voss for POLITICO pic.twitter.com/zSSZ1A2wVH
— POLITICO (@politico) January 13, 2021
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Welcome to the new Latin American country.
That’s something I never thought I’d see…troops sleeping in place like that usually only happens when they are preparing for something or out in the field without support. It’s the damn Capitol, we shouldn’t need troops there to protect it…just one more “broken norm” from the Trump administration. It’s really disturbing that his followers just don’t see how wrong all of this is.
As with the letter from the Joint Chiefs, all at once it is depressing, embarrassing, shameful, comforting, and inspiring.
I think America and its constitutional order will, at the end of the day, have held. It shouldn’t have been so tested. The coming years and decades will be trying, but they will be trying within the framework of democracy.
Thank you Donald Trump. The whole world is shocked or laughing at us.