LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Eastern Kentucky Rep. Hal Rogers, Kentucky’s longest serving member of Congress, has been fined $5,000 by the House Ethics Committee for failing to comply with screening rules before entering the House Chamber. Committee leaders announced the fine in a press release Tuesday.

What You Need To Know

  • The House of Representatives requires members to undergo a security screening before entering the House floor

  • Kentucky Rep. Hal Rogers was fined for not completing a recent screening

  • Rogers said it was a “simple misunderstanding”

  • Rogers is Kentucky’s longest-serving member of Congress

The incident took place on April 14, according to a memo from the U.S. Capitol police. The memo says that Rogers set off the alarm on a magnetometer as he entered the House floor last week. When a Capitol police officer attempted to use a hand metal detector on him, Rogers said, “Maybe later. I have to vote.”

Rogers later returned to the officer after voting and asked what he needed to do to complete the screening. “The officer informed him that all screening must be completed before entering the chamber,” the memo says. Rogers is appealing the fine, the press released from the House Ethics Committee says.

“On April 14, 2021, there was a simple misunderstanding on the House Floor after I went through the metal detectors to vote,” Rogers said in a statement. “I have filed an appeal with the House Ethics Committee, requesting an opportunity to explain the facts.”

The 83-year-old congressman is not the first to be fined under new House rules, adopted in early February. 

Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., incurred $15,000 in fines ($5,000 for the first offense and $10,000 for the second) after refusing to pass through the metal detectors. In a statement, he called the use of metal detectors at the entrance to the House floor “unconstitutional.”

Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert, a Republican, like Clyde and Rogers, was also fined $5,000.

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