{"id":10402,"date":"2025-06-18T12:04:06","date_gmt":"2025-06-18T12:04:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/capitol-agenda-members-clash-over-increasing-their-own-security\/"},"modified":"2025-06-18T12:04:06","modified_gmt":"2025-06-18T12:04:06","slug":"capitol-agenda-members-clash-over-increasing-their-own-security","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/capitol-agenda-members-clash-over-increasing-their-own-security\/","title":{"rendered":"Capitol agenda: Members clash over increasing their own security"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Lawmakers confronting a rise in political violence are grappling over whether to use more tax dollars for their own protection, even as Republicans search for deep cuts across the federal government.<\/p>\n

That question will be tested next week, when the House Legislative Branch appropriations bill<\/a> funding the operations of Capitol Hill gets marked up.<\/p>\n

Top congressional Democrats are pushing for more money for both Capitol Police and for a program that provides funding for lawmakers\u2019 personal security after the weekend shootings of state lawmakers in Minnesota. Some Republicans are also calling for a funding boost.<\/p>\n

Only a select few leaders in each chamber have 24\/7 security, while rank-and-file members have little day-to-day protection unless they’ve been deemed to be under an active threat. Some members, like Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), want more widespread coverage.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s one problem: Some lawmakers have been reticent to take advantage of the resources that are already on offer. They can use official office funds to buy security equipment and take advantage of a program providing security upgrades for lawmakers\u2019 primary residences. Capitol Police also offer to coordinate some in-district events with state and local police departments.<\/p>\n

But while more than half of House lawmakers last year participated in the home security program, hundreds of thousands of dollars in security resources were left unspent, with those not enrolled citing either lack of interest or a feeling that the paperwork and approval process was too burdensome, according to two people familiar with the initiative.<\/p>\n

Others are simply wary of additional safety measures that would restrict their freedom of movement and interactions with the public (not to mention intrude on family life).<\/p>\n

\u201cI don’t want to have security on me. I’m a very private person. I like to go outside and be by myself,\u201d said Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), who chairs the Appropriations subcommittee that funds Capitol Police.<\/p>\n

Even so, the Capitol security budget could grow to new heights. The USCP budget request for fiscal 2026 is $967.8 million \u2014 a 22 percent boost over current levels. With lawmakers now calling for even beefier security post-Minnesota, the budget for the relatively small force could soon top $1 billion.<\/p>\n

What else we\u2019re watching:<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

\u2014 GOP megabill\u2019s unresolved issues: <\/b>Rank-and-file Republican senators\u2019 revolt over GOP leaders\u2019 megabill changes is threatening to derail Senate Majority Leader John Thune\u2019s goal to pass it next week. Even as the White House pushes<\/a> to get the bill to Trump\u2019s desk by Independence Day, Vice President JD Vance told Senate Republicans Tuesday the ultimate deadline<\/a> to get it to Trump\u2019s desk is the August recess.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Biden \u201ccover-up\u201d hearing: <\/b>Congressional Republicans will hold their first hearing Wednesday on President Joe Biden\u2019s mental decline. No Biden associates will appear before the panel co-chaired by Sens. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas). Instead, the hearing will include testimony from former Trump administration officials \u2014 including former press secretary Sean Spicer and former deputy assistant Theo Wold.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Rescissions update: <\/b>Republicans will hold a hearing next Wednesday on the White House\u2019s rescissions package. Susan Collins (R-Maine), the Senate\u2019s top appropriator, said she wants \u201can in-depth hearing so that everybody knows exactly what is proposed and what the justification is.\u201d OMB Director Russ Vought will testify.<\/p>\n

Nicholas Wu, Jordain Carney, Hailey Fuchs, Jennifer Scholtes and Sophia Cai contributed to this report.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lawmakers confronting a rise in political violence are grappling over whether to use more tax dollars for their own protection, even as Republicans search for deep cuts across the federal government. That question will be tested next week, when the House Legislative Branch appropriations bill funding the operations of Capitol Hill gets marked up. Top […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10402","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-congress"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10402"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10402\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}