House GOP Leaders Spent $40,000 On New Congressional Lapel Pins Because They ‘Didn’t Like Color’ Of Old Ones

The House GOP leadership spent $40,000 on brand-new congressional lapel pins for each of its members.

Every two years, all 435 members of the House of Representatives and the six non-voting members, get new congressional pins which are a security measure.

Ever since 1975, the U.S. Capitol Police have been recognizing members by those pins since they serve as a memento of their time on Capitol Hill.

Spouses and family members are allowed to get similar, though not identical, pins to identify them.

“It’s a thing,” Rep. Sean Casten (D-Illinois) told HuffPost. “It’s a memento for members and spouses.”

Even though House lawmakers received new pins in 2023, they were still given new ones on January 10.

Democrats were fast in publicly calling out Republicans for wasteful spending.

“Every Congressional session we get a new pin – it’s our ID on the floor for the next 2 years,” Casten wrote on X. “Today we’re getting a new pin, halfway through the term because the House GOP didn’t like the color. Big congrats to them on their first tangible accomplishment of the 118th. There’s been this low-level grumbling [that] people didn’t like the color.”

The pins were changed because the original ones for the 118th Congress had been bright green, and some of the members were not fond of them as a fashion statement.

“HELLO FROM CAPITOL HILL, where House lawmakers have their new lapel pins,” CBS correspondent Ed O’Keefe wrote in an X post. “This 118th Session’s designated color is green.”

The color of the pin has gone from bold green to deep navy blue with a thicker gold border. The pins also show the Great Seal of the United States, an eagle with its wings spreading wide as it holds a set of arrows on its left foot and an olive branch on its right foot.

The pins were approved by former House Administration Committee Chairwoman Zoe Lofgren (D-California). Republicans took control of the House in January 2023. The chamber has been notable for its high level of dysfunction and inability to pass bills. New House Speaker Mike Johnson has frequently compared himself to Moses.

Rep. Deborah Ross (R-North Carolina) told Semafor that one congresswoman was complaining that the pin was too small, which made it hard to wear it as a pendant.

Since there are 435 members of the House, 100 senators, and thousands of staff members, it is difficult to keep track of everyone who comes in and out of the Capitol.

The congressional pins help Capitol Police immediately identify the names of the members. Each chamber is granted its own distinctive pin design. In most, only those who are not members of Congress use badges in order to get through security.

House Sergeant-at-Arms William McFarland sent a letter to all House members in December 2023 in which he announced that new pins would be coming in January.

Former House Administration Chairman Bob Ney (R-Ohio) said that the 441 pins cost $40,000 – meaning that each pin cost over $90 – since the design process was difficult.