The Mace of the United States House of Representatives,[1] also called the Mace of the Republic, is a ceremonial mace and one of the oldest symbols of the United States government. It symbolizes the governmental authority of the United States, and more specifically, the legislative authority of the House of Representatives.
Disciplinary usage
In accordance with the House Rules, on the rare occasion that a member becomes unruly, the Sergeant at Arms, upon order of the Speaker, lifts the mace from its pedestal and presents it before the offenders, thereby restoring order.
There have been at least six instances where the Mace was used to quell disorder. The first known usage of the original mace occurred at the Congress Hall in Philadelphia on January 30, 1798, during a fight between Matthew Lyon of Vermont and Roger Griswold of Connecticut, after which Lyon faced an unsuccessful expulsion vote.[6]
The mace was used to restore order on the House floor on the evening of January 31, 1877, during a special session regarding the election in Florida. Tensions flared and Speaker Samuel Randall “was unable to stop the Members from running from desk to desk, while conducting loud conversations.” The Sergeant at Arms presented the Mace, but to little effect. House rules state that Members should be arrested when ignoring the authority of the Mace, but in this case since there were so many members involved, the Speaker adjourned the session.[6]
In 1880, as the House met to discuss a funding bill as the Committee of the Whole, James B. Weaver of Iowa and William A.J. Sparks of Illinois became involved in a heated discussion, with members attempting to keep them apart. The Speaker ordered the Sergeant at Arms to walk about the floor of the House with the Mace, and order was restored. It was used twice in the 1890s in incidents involving Representative Charles L. Bartlett, a fiery Georgia Democrat who hurled a volume of laws at one colleague and brandished a knife at another.[7]
House records indicate that the mace was last used to restore order during World War I when Representative J. Thomas (Cotton Tom) Heflin of Alabama suggested that some of his colleagues had been unpatriotic in voting against a resolution to enter the war.[8]
A threat to present the mace was made on July 29, 1994, when Rep. Maxine Waters declined to stop speaking. The Speaker Pro Tempore, Rep. Carrie Meek, threatened “to present the mace”. Waters left the floor shortly thereafter, and Meek said that she had been about to order the Sergeant at Arms to present it.[9][10]
Also, related:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mace_of_the_United_States_House_of_Representatives