- Rep. Claudia Tenney defeated Democratic incumbent Rep. Anthony Brindisi by 109 votes in a race that was decided this week
- On Thursday, Tenney was scheduled to be sworn in at Capitol – more than a month after the bulk of her colleagues on Jan. 3 had their swearing-in ceremony
- She said she asked to have her son, an active duty Marine and graduate of the Naval Academy, to join the ceremony
- Tenney claims Nancy Pelosi prevented her son from being in the gallery but a spokesperson for the speaker said that the decision was not handled by her office
- ‘The COVID restrictions are set by the House Sergeant at Arms and the Attending Physician,’ Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill said
- Hammill added that the decision ‘has nothing to do with politics’ and that ‘the same thing would happen to a Democratic member’
