It’s been a wild Thursday under the State House’s golden dome, Save Jerseyans, with the New Jersey State Police ultimately declining to enforce a Democrat directive barring everyone – including legislators – from the building who won’t submit to vaccine passport-style regulations.
Republicans challenged the constitutionality of the rules which went into effect on Wednesday and largely stood firm in one of the more dramatic moments in recent Trenton history:
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Republicans defy COVID vaccine policy at the N.J. Statehouse, ignoring troopers who tried to stop them https://t.co/WV2vai2DCh pic.twitter.com/Y2BiFqPuwo
— njdotcom (@njdotcom) December 2, 2021
Entire Assembly Republican caucus seated still waiting on Assembly Democrats @wildstein @BillSpadea @NJ_Politics @Sdimaso @CPDePhillips @JayWebberNJ @votebergen pic.twitter.com/3BJf3jnvt1
— Kevin J. Rooney (@KevinJRooney) December 2, 2021
Republican Assembly Caucus holding strong, not accepting vaccination passport concept. @RudyGiuliani @JCats2013 @frankmorano @SWAGDAD80 @PowerPeteB @borderfox116 @Thomas1774Paine @BourdinFred @JoseJus25988740 @DebbieDuHaime @ModelCarolAlt @DSYelin @JoeBorelliNYC @ArthurAidala pic.twitter.com/njGxEHM0ah
— Assemblyman Robert Auth (@Robert_Auth) December 2, 2021
Republicans huddle on the floor of the Assembly after protesting the Statehouse Covid-19 policy prior to a voting session. #VaccineMandates #NJStatehouse pic.twitter.com/C6rWThHoXe
— NJ Assembly GOP (@NJAssemblyGOP) December 2, 2021
Democrats raged, accusing their GOP colleagues of callous behavior:
This is extraordinarily unusual. The Assembly Speaker basically slammed the New Jersey State Police here. https://t.co/htmldgd3cD
— Matt Friedman (@MattFriedmanNJ) December 2, 2021
Coughlin speaking: "“There’s been a colossal failure of security here at the Statehouse. This is something we cannot tolerate.”
— Matt Friedman (@MattFriedmanNJ) December 2, 2021
Republican leaders saw the majority party’s behavior as a low point in Trenton political history.
“The events in the State House today highlight the democracy deficit inherent in the legislative process in New Jersey,” opined incoming Senator GOP Leader Steven Oroho in a released statement. “While we have all the trappings and show of democracy, we lack it in operation. New Jersey arguably has the least democratic Legislature in America.”
“Going forward, we should seek a bi-partisan coalition to reform the way the Legislature works,” Oroho continued. ” To break up the power of the legislative leadership and give it back to the elected representatives of the people. After all, every legislator represents the same number of citizens. The Legislature, in its operations and the power it allocates, should reflect that ideal as much as possible.”
Others saw the recent 2021 election results as the true catalyst for the Democrats’ outrageous behavior.
“NJ Dems had their worst leg losses in 30 years thanks, in part, to their decision to let Murphy terrorize the state with arbitrary COVID lockdowns & mandates,” tweeted Alex Wilkes, communications director for the NJGOP. “And their response is to use the State Police to remove duly-elected members of the opposing party from the floor?”
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