In the middle of a congressional session already marked by extraordinary chaos and lack of productivity, the Republican-led House of Representatives rang in the new year with a new set of identification pins for each member that cost a hefty $40,000, according to a congressional staffer familiar with it the purchase.
At the start of each new Congress, each member of the House of Representatives receives a round pin that identifies them as a lawmaker and signals to Capitol Hill security officials that they are allowed to enter restricted spaces, including the House floor. The background color and number of the congressional session change every two years, but the design rarely; It bears the Great Seal of the United States, an eagle with outstretched wings carrying an olive branch in one talon and arrows in the other.
But on Wednesday, during Congress' first week of work this year, members lined up in the speaker's lobby outside the House chamber to retire their bright green pins for new ones in navy blue and gold.
Rep. Sean Casten, Democrat of Illinois, took to social media to make a statement about the new accessories.
“Today we're getting a new pin halfway through the semester because the @HouseGOP didn't like the color.” he wrote on social media.
A spokesman for Speaker Mike Johnson did not immediately provide further statement in response to a request for comment.
The purchase comes as most House Republicans continue to complain about what they see as excessive federal spending and hardliners threaten to shut down the government to insist on deeper cuts.
Mr. Johnson announced on Friday that he would stick to the spending deal he negotiated with Democrats to avert a partial shutdown next week, as right-wing lawmakers were angry about the funding levels in the bipartisan agreement and pressured him to do so to change gear.
Lawmakers generally seemed pleased or ambivalent about the new pins.
Representative Rudy Yakym III, Republican of Indiana, said a NOTUS reporter that the replacement was a welcome improvement over the green one, while former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California, expressed confusion over why the pins had been replaced.
Semafor, which previously reported on the cost of the new pins, said some members of Congress complained that the bale of the old pins was too small and did not fit thicker chains. While most members wear the accessory on their lapels, some wear it as a pendant around their neck.