House lawmakers are now getting $5,000 a month for personal security guards
The House Administration Committee announced on Tuesday that members of the House of Representatives can now spend $20,000 on home security improvements with public funds, up from $10,000 before.
They're also getting $5,000 a month to spend on personal security, including hired security guards, back in their home states. That's an increase from just $150 before, and it's set to last through September 30, the end of the fiscal year.
The change is coming days before the House heads home for the August recess, when many lawmakers will be back in their districts and interacting with constituents, including at town halls.
Politicians have been able to spend campaign funds on personal security, and many of them already do. Wealthier lawmakers may choose to hire security with their own money as well.
The changes come a month after two Minnesota state lawmakers were shot in their homes in what the Department of Justice has called "targeted political assassinations."
The speaker of the Minnesota House, Melissa Hortman, died of her injuries along with her husband Mark. State Sen. John Hoffman and his wife were also shot, but survived.
Other lawmakers have faced threats to their lives in recent months.
The most recent was Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, whose Bronx office was vandalized after she voted against an amendment to a defense spending bill that would have struck funding for Israel's "Iron Dome" defensive missile system.
A spokesman for the congresswoman, Oliver Hidalgo-Wohlleben, said on X on Monday that her office had "received multiple threats on the Congresswoman's life and we are treating this seriously with our security partners to make sure she, our staff, and volunteers are safe."
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