October 17th, 2013
12:24 AM ET
9 years ago

Stenographer snaps, rants on House floor

Updated: 2:06 p.m. ET, 10/17/2013

Washington (CNN) – Amid all the chaos of the last-minute deal in Washington, there was an unusual moment on the House floor moments after the bill passed.

A House stenographer and well-known employee calmly took to a microphone and began screaming.

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"Do not be deceived. God shall not be mocked. A House divided cannot stand," she said, according to a House GOP aide. After a few seconds, she was escorted out by the Sergeant-at-Arms, but an audio recording by Todd Zwillich of Public Radio International captured the rest of her rant.

"He will not be mocked, He will not be mocked, (don't touch me) He will not be mocked. The greatest deception here, is that this is not one nation under God. It never was. Had it been... it would not have been... No. it would not have been... the Constitution would not have been written by Free Masons... and go against God. You cannot serve two masters. You cannot serve two masters. Praise be to God, Lord Jesus Christ."

House members and aides were surprised and unsettled by the scene.

"I don't know, she just snapped," said a GOP aide.

CNN's Dana Bash spoke with several staffers who knew the woman well.

"She’s a well-known person, she’s a perfectly nice person, a good colleague, somebody who’s respectable and dependable, and this is very surprising to everybody who works with her," Bash reported on air.

"The Sergeant in Arms didn’t try to stop her because she works there and that’s where she’s situated," Rep. Peter King, R-New York, told Jake Tapper. "And she actually went up behind the podium where the president speaks from. They thought she was going to hand something to the speaker, and then they realized."

Officer Shennell S. Antrobus of Capitol Police told CNN she wasn’t arrested or charged and was transported to a local area hospital by DC Fire for further evaluation.

In terms of an ongoing investigation or further action about the stenographer, Antrobus said no such action will be taken.

"There is nothing more, from our end, that we are going to do," Antrobus said.

–CNN’s Deirdre Walsh, Steve Brusk, Dan Merica and Conor Finnegan contributed to this report.


Filed under: Government Shutdown • House
soundoff (1,094 Responses)
  1. Steven

    Whats incredible is that despite the House...scratch that....despite the fact that You All Knew the Republican Party controlled the House..and that there would be NO Way Obama would ever be able to keep more than 90% of the promises he made...and elected this joker anyways...it was No One Other than Him...by refusing to negotiate that caused this entire matter...Period !

    It represents perhaps the single biggest Blunder ever made by An American President !!!

    October 17, 2013 09:37 am at 9:37 am |
  2. Stuffed Llama

    Well, let's be grateful they didn't shoot her to death like they did poor Miriam Carey.

    October 17, 2013 09:37 am at 9:37 am |
  3. Jeb

    No shortage of religious fanatics in this world.

    October 17, 2013 09:38 am at 9:38 am |
  4. John T

    might as well have been shouting Allah Akbar. Exact same thing...just different brand.

    October 17, 2013 09:38 am at 9:38 am |
  5. allaisa

    Strange. I was watching the voting live and never noticed it. If CNN and others did not highlight it, it would have gone unnoticed too. She needs to be treated and not ridiculed.

    October 17, 2013 09:38 am at 9:38 am |
  6. mike

    Hilarious if comments are awaiting moderation?? isn't that censorship? What else would you expect from a news organization who does a live interview then has their anchor person paraphrase and moderate the replies so that we can understand what CNN wants us to hear.

    October 17, 2013 09:38 am at 9:38 am |
  7. bigdicmcgee

    why are their references to the tea party about this woman; We (teaparty) love the founding fathers and the Constitution, those men were much better than the Motley Crue we have in the nations capital now.

    October 17, 2013 09:38 am at 9:38 am |
  8. Anonymous

    My God!

    October 17, 2013 09:39 am at 9:39 am |
  9. Carolyn

    Can you imagine having to keep up with every word that was said in the chamber? Heck just watching CSPAN was tiring enough trying to keep sanity. God's name should not be apart of the forum. These are man made laws not biblical laws. If God were involved these liars on a daily basis would be doomed to hell. Anyone can see why she snapped. Poor lady, hope she gets to keep her job.

    October 17, 2013 09:39 am at 9:39 am |
  10. Pray

    The word of God spoken on the House Floor,, tht was awesome.

    October 17, 2013 09:39 am at 9:39 am |
  11. Nik M

    They're coming to take her away ha ha
    They're coming to take her away ho ho hee hee ha ha...

    October 17, 2013 09:41 am at 9:41 am |
  12. thebeast

    God speaks in mysterious ways

    October 17, 2013 09:41 am at 9:41 am |
  13. Neal

    One of the perils of working in a circus is that sometimes you start acting like one of the clowns.

    October 17, 2013 09:41 am at 9:41 am |
  14. dlowings

    People in the media and wal-street can cheer on the puppet show all they want... I think this starts to show on some level that the real working americans are sick and tired of what has been going on ... Maybe she is crazy, but somewhere in the heds of a lot of people I see a growing resentment for the things that the people of power are doing ... I dont agree with how she reacted, and im just pointing out my observation that we are seeing more and more of this and I suspect it will get worse... Nothing was solved with this vote, it was all delayed and that is what people are sick of... If I delayed something like this in my line of work for this long, I would be out of a JOB .

    October 17, 2013 09:43 am at 9:43 am |
  15. piggypigs

    Man this is sad. And some of these comments are even sadder. Revelation? From the mount? You disgrace Jesus with your nonsense and he did indeed speak of false prophets as well you know ... ever looks in the mirror?

    I wonder what can make a woman go unhinged just like that .. if not for the drivel that are going on in the GOP circles.

    October 17, 2013 09:44 am at 9:44 am |
  16. Peach

    Just because someone has strong religious beliefs doesn't mean they have "snapped"--stop mocking people that are believers..........CNN shame on you........

    October 17, 2013 09:44 am at 9:44 am |
  17. thesaj

    Goodness gracious...if you sat in Congress typing every stupid thing that Congressmen said for years....you'd eventually snap too!

    October 17, 2013 09:44 am at 9:44 am |
  18. pk

    Who WOULDN'T snap if they had to be with these lunatics all day, day in day out, week in week out...etc...

    October 17, 2013 09:44 am at 9:44 am |
  19. xn

    Eh, anyone is would have gone mad too after sitting through weeks of this nonsense on capitol hill.

    October 17, 2013 09:44 am at 9:44 am |
  20. shovel tooth

    She didn't snap or have a breakdown. She got up there and said exactly what all Tea Party Theocratic Fundamentalists believe...that The Constitution must be replaced by the bible. Taliban monarchists like her & Michele Bachmann have been influencing our dialogue for a long time now. They are our greatest threat.

    October 17, 2013 09:45 am at 9:45 am |
  21. bspurloc

    faerie tale programmed loon.... still astonished this lunacy still exists in 2013

    October 17, 2013 09:45 am at 9:45 am |
  22. Jimmy Jack

    See, this is what happens now that we let women vote and work! I blame Obama and Obamacare for this poor woman's breakdown. If Sarah Palin was president this wouldnlt never have happened.

    October 17, 2013 09:46 am at 9:46 am |
  23. Listen

    Members of Government and the people would do well to listen to her, could this have been the HOLY SPIRIT talking through her? May have been a warning from GOD.

    October 17, 2013 09:46 am at 9:46 am |
  24. Ruth Forshee

    I don't think the lady is crazy at all. This nation has gone so far from God it feels like we are dooming ourselves. I know that God will watch out for her. May God have mercy on the people responsible for this nation. May God have mercy on us all.

    October 17, 2013 09:46 am at 9:46 am |
  25. vt77

    I'd vote for her for sure

    October 17, 2013 09:46 am at 9:46 am |
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