On Wednesday, 232 members of the House of Representatives voted in favor of impeachment, making Donald Trump the first president in U.S. history to be impeached twice. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi appeared in a familiar outfit for the occasion: The same black two-piece suit with a zip-up jacket she wore to Trump’s last impeachment vote. Some of us have lucky job interview outfits. Pelosi, a Democratic Congresswoman from California who has been Speaker of the House since 2019 (and also from 2007 to 2011), has a suit that’s two for two on making Donald Trump face the worst repercussions for his actions a president can. Why mess with a proven track record?
Noticeably missing from Pelosi’s outfit on Wednesday was the miniature replica of the Mace of the Republic she pinned to her suit jacket in December of 2019. One of the oldest symbols of the American Republic, the Mace — symbolizing order and authority — rests on the desk of the speaker when the House is in session. The Mace of the Republic pin made an appearance once again when Pelosi famously tore the President’s speech in half during the State of the Union address in February of last year.
For this impeachment proceeding, Pelosi replaced her pin with another statement-making accessory: a blue, floral face mask. While wearing a face mask in public should be a given at this point in the pandemic, this follows the news that a third member of Congress had tested positive for COVID-19 following the Capitol riots after being evacuated into a room where some Republicans refused to wear a mask. The patterned mask holds even more meaning now that Pelosi has imposed a $500 fine for House members who refuse to wear a mask, according to Forbes.
Though we missed her pin at Wednesday’s vote, given that she had her even go-to impeachment suit (and a chic statement mask to go with it), we knew we were in good hands. Now, if only Pelosi could find a suit powerful enough to convince Mitch McConnell to get on with the Senate trial already.
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Nancy Pelosi’s Impeachment Pin Is Back
