Republican Rep. Dusty Johnson of South Dakota has decided to sleep with a loaded pistol near his nightstand after the deadly shootings targeting Minnesota state lawmakers and their families over the weekend.
Democratic Rep. Mark Pocan didn’t know he was potentially putting himself at risk by attending a “No Kings” protest in his Wisconsin district Saturday because he didn’t find out until the next day that his name had been included among the Minnesota suspect’s alleged writings.
And Rep. Tim Burchett, who has repeatedly raised lawmaker safety concerns with House GOP leadership, is now leading an effort to get members of Congress around-the-clock security services when they’re in their home states.
The fatal shootings in Minnesota have reignited the long-standing question of how to ensure the safety of 535 US lawmakers and their families with limited resources in an increasingly toxic political environment where threats of violence against politicians are at an all-time high. 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.
After the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol, the Capitol Police established new departments to take on the increased threats including a stand-alone intelligence bureau and with it, an expansion of intelligence-gathering systems. During a budget hearing earlier this year, then-USCP Chief Thomas Manger made a substantial request – close to $1 billion – to maintain and expand the department’s current operations, with a focus on monitoring and handling threats.
“We are not an ordinary law enforcement agency,” said Manger, seeking to justify the department’s request by citing the rise in threats, need for new technologies as well as 288 additional officers, and comparing the USCP work to that of federal agencies like the Secret Service and FBI.
In the wake of the Minnesota incident, efforts are underway to examine how to increase the security funding available to lawmakers, a source familiar with the process
The US Capitol Police is enhancing security for members of Congress “impacted” by the Minnesota shootings and offered 24-hour protection for those lawmakers whose names appeared among the alleged shooter’s writings that investigators say they found, CNN previously reported.
“We have been working around the clock with our Congressional, federal, state and local partners to ensure that the Members of Congress impacted by this terrible event have a strong security plan,” Capitol Police said in a statement Monday. “We continue to closely coordinate with the House and Senate Sergeant at Arms to enhance security for Members of Congress.”
USCP also noted “proactive enhancements,” but did not elaborate on what those would be.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and the top Democrat on the House Administration Committee are pressing Speaker Mike Johnson to do more, writing in a letter obtained by CNN that the responsibility to protect all lawmakers “starts with you.”
And in a bipartisan effort, House Administration Chair Bryan Steil and Ranking Member Joe Morelle requested Attorney General Pam Bondi provide Capitol Police with federal prosecutors to help investigate and prosecute threats against lawmakers. A DOJ spokesperson confirmed receipt of the letter but declined to comment further.
Beyond funding levels, many members have felt in recent days there is a larger issue at play. They believe there is a lack of coordination between Capitol Police and local authorities regarding security threats when lawmakers are in their districts.
“Why is it so hard to get information in this moment?” a source familiar with the conversations about lawmaker security said of the flow of information after the Minnesota incident.
Democratic Rep. Greg Landsman, who was also named among the Minnesota suspect’s writings, had paced his house on Sunday – a time when the suspect’s whereabouts were not known. “I worked myself up into a mini-panic,”
Landsman said a new apparatus similar to a command center is needed to ensure all law enforcement partners are working together and can easily share information quickly.
“No, we are not where we need to be,” Landsman told“It’s a lot of trying to find people’s cell phones. In their defense, this was not Capitol Police’s assignment. And it’s gotten much more complicated. I think it’s time to appreciate that there needs to be much more sophisticated system than there has been.”
Series of Hill briefings on security
House Republicans received a briefing by law enforcement officials on Saturday, shortly after the attack that left one Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband dead, and another state legislator and his wife wounded.
On the call, multiple GOP lawmakers told they raised concerns about the threats they face and pressed officials on the call on how to keep their families safe. Many left unsatisfied.
Burchett characterized the response from leadership and law enforcement personnel as “the same old thing.”
The USSS, with a larger budget and a list of protectees in the dozens, not hundreds, has been plagued by its own coordination issues with local and state law enforcement, which were exposed in the wake of the assassination attempt on then-candidate Donald Trump last summer.
A bipartisan group of senators and House Democrats received briefings Tuesday.
Two people in the House briefing told CNN that one Democrat burst into tears when talking about the multiple threats she has faced and expressed the feeling that no one is helping them address their security concerns. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, meanwhile, spoke about the trauma she went through after her husband was violently attacked, the people said.
A number of lawmakers expressed that leadership doesn’t understand what it’s like to be a member who has a family and is scared, given leadership has security, one of the people on the call said.
Ahead of the briefing, one Democratic lawmaker said the three-day delay in holding the House Democrats’ briefing was “f**king ridiculous.”
Finger-pointing on the call over the lack of information being shared with members and accusations of downplaying the current threats lawmakers face was widespread, and included the House Sergeant at Arms as well as Morelle, the top Democrat on the Committee on House Administration, which oversees lawmaker security, the two people on the call said.
“Keeping elected members safe shouldn’t be this hard. Serving is a calling, not a death wish,” one of the people told CNN following the call.
As he left a “sobering” briefing on Capitol Hill, Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin told that “the threat to public officials and their families is very real.”
Saying that lawmakers were “discussing” additional measures, the veteran Democrat said “there’s a lot being done that’s not being reported and won’t be reported, but there’s more that has to be done.”
“I have more security than most – I have a security detail, one is with me right now – but most of my colleagues don’t have that. Before they expanded coverage for me, I hope that others would be helped too,” said Durbin, the longtime second-ranking Democrat in the Senate.
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.
Democratic Rep. Jared Moskowitz, who met with Johnson months ago after he said a man was arrested in connection with “a potential plot on [his] life,”
The Florida Democrat said he is prepared to upend procedure and try to force Congress into a secret session to address lawmaker security if leadership doesn’t act swiftly in the wake of the Minnesota attacks.
Currently, lawmakers can take a number of steps to beef up their security protocols, including seeking reimbursements for bulletproof vest purchases, for hiring security personnel in certain instances or getting their own security training, and for making a range of security enhancements to their district offices. Rank-and-file members – unlike congressional leadership – do not receive a dedicated security detail. And when a lawmaker is granted – based on threat level – temporary security, the detail is not assigned to also protect the lawmaker’s family, prompting many to use personal or campaign funds for additional security.