House increases security funding ahead of members' return to their home districts after attack on Minnesota lawmakers

CNN

2 days ago

The House is increasing security funding and resources for lawmakers after a June attack on Minnesota state lawmakers reignited the long-standing question of how to best keep members and their families safe when they're away from Washington.
Members will have $20,000 to increase the security of their homes, up from the current $10,000 allotment, according to a release from the Committee on House Administration obtained by CNN, as well as $5,000 a month to pay for personal security through the end of the fiscal year.
The security personnel would be allowed to accompany members in their districts and protect their homes. Currently, members only had $150 a month for security monitoring purposes.
The increase in funding comes as House lawmakers will soon return home for a five-week work period in their districts, where coordination between US Capitol Police and local law enforcement has consistently presented challenges. Lawmakers have called for more security measures in the face of ongoing threats against politicians.
House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters Tuesday that this is a 'pilot program' that will be evaluated after September 30.
'The allowance is so that people can have private security if they deem that necessary and then at the end of September we are going to look at that, evaluate all of the data points, how effective it was, how it was utilized and then make decisions going forward. We live in an enhanced threat environment,' Johnson said.
House Administration Chair Bryan Steil, who led the effort, told CNN he worked with his Democratic counterparts to reallocate available funds to increase options for lawmakers.
'We announced it as soon as we were able to reach agreement, outline the funds and delineate the program,' Steil said.
There have been heightened concerns over public officials' security in the wake of the deadly attack in Minnesota. At the time, congressional lawmakers pressed law enforcement officials on how to keep their families safe amid an increasingly volatile political environment.
In 2024 alone, US Capitol Police investigated more than 9,000 threats against lawmakers, marking an 83% increase from the year prior and part of a trend of growing threats against public officials.
While the Minnesota attack has placed a renewed focus on how law enforcement addresses high-profile threats of violence against public officials, lawmakers have long called for an overhaul of security practices, with focus on resources dedicated to information sharing.
A spate of recent attacks has seen House Majority Leader Steve Scalise seriously wounded by a gunman targeting a congressional baseball team practice in 2017, lawmakers across the Capitol at risk during the January 6, 2021, riot at US Capitol and Paul Pelosi attacked in his California home in 2022. And mere months before the 2024 presidential election, Trump was targeted in two apparent assassination attempts.