U.S. House Stenographer 'Couldn't Be Better' After Late-Night Rant.

*Source: Reuters



(Reuters) - A House of Representatives stenographer who was pulled from the chamber ranting about Freemasons during this week's vote on raising the U.S. debt ceiling said on Friday she "couldn't be better" when asked how she was feeling after the outburst.

In a brief phone interview, the stenographer, 48-year-old Dianne Reidy, declined to comment on what motivated her to stand up on the House floor on Wednesday night and make comments including: "The greatest deception here is this is not one nation under God. It never was."

Reached at her Maryland home on Friday, Reidy declined to elaborate on her comments, saying: "It's not where I'm going, it's where God's going."

Reidy was hauled off the House floor during Wednesday night's vote to end the federal government shutdown and increase the U.S. borrowing authority. She was interviewed by Capitol Police officers and taken to a hospital for a brief evaluation.

Her husband, Dan Reidy, told the New York Post that his wife had been working extremely long hours and having a hard time sleeping during the 16-day shutdown.

"Two weeks, waking up in the middle of the night," Reidy told the Post. "She's like, 'I can't sleep, God's got me in the work.'"

Freemasons are a centuries-old fraternal organization. Several of the country's founders, including George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and Paul Revere, were Freemasons.

Officials with the House Office of the Clerk did not immediately respond to questions regarding Reidy's employment status.

(Reporting by Scott Malone in Boston; Editing by Eric Beech)

Stenographer Dragged Off House Floor After Protest.

*Source: Fox News & Soundcloud

A House of Representatives stenographer was dragged off the floor during the vote to end the partial government shutdown and raise the U.S. debt ceiling after a bizarre protest in which she began ranting at members.

Fox News identified the stenographer as Dianne Reidy, who went to the Speaker's Chair while the vote was in progress and said, "Praise be to God Jesus Christ." She also appeared to make references to America not being one nation under God because “Freemasons” wrote the Constitution. She also seemed to say something about a “house divided.”

A woman tried to calm Reidy as others summoned police.

Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., the presiding officer, banged the gavel to restore order several times, but did not deter Reidy, who screamed "You cannot serve two masters" as she was removed from the floor.



According to Ros-Lehtinen, Reidy "came up to the podium area beneath where I was standing and asked me if the microphones were on. I said that I didn't know. I assumed that perhaps I was chatting too much to the helpful parliamentarians around me. Then she suddenly faced the front and said words like 'Thus spoke the Lord.' And, 'This is not the Lord's work.'

"I hammered to get control and hush her up. She said something about the devil. It was sudden, confusing and heartbreaking. She is normally a gentle soul."

Reidy was questioned by U.S. Capitol Police after her removal from the floor and was later taken to a local hospital for a mental health evaluation. It was not immediately clear whether criminal charges would be filed.

The disruption stunned members of Congress already jumpy after two weeks of partisan invective over the partial government shutdown and Thursday's debt ceiling deadline.

Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, told Fox News, "You have a lot of members who are concerned about who is allowed on the floor when something like that happens."

Fox News' Chad Pergram and Nicholas Kalman contributed to this report.