The Capitol attending physician, Dr. Brian Monahan, announced Friday that masks will no longer be required on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives. The rule change comes as 85 percent of Capitol Complex employees have been fully vaccinated, significantly decreasing the threat of virus transmissibility. Besides House members, staff and visitors can also go maskless inside the Capitol Complex if they have been fully vaccinated, but those who have not gotten the shots still need to wear masks and socially distance. At the start of the pandemic in 2020, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) ruled that all members and aides must wear masks in the halls of the House except when they are speaking. While the Senate chose not to implement any mask requirements, the House’s mask rules became a point of contention between Democrat and Republican members. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) guidance on the …