Lawmakers say they are ‘targets,’ ask to boost security

More than 30 House lawmakers are calling for increased security, saying they are “targets” in the aftermath of the deadly rioting on the Capitol earlier this month.

Lawmakers in a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Thursday asked if they can expand their congressional allowances to go toward protection in their home districts, “where security is often sparse.”  The letter, which was first obtained by CBS News, was also addressed to Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) and Rodney Davis (R-Ill.), the chairwoman and ranking member, respectively, of the House Administration Committee.

Thirty-one Democrats and one Republican, Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.), want greater flexibility for the Members’ Representational Allowances (MRAs) — the money provided to lawmaker offices to pay for staff, mail and other operational expenses. 

The MRAs currently allow lawmakers to pay for security equipment or security at local events, but the lawmakers want to allocate funding for security updates at their district offices, security personnel in their districts and security items for their homes.

Members called the funding rules “constrictive and anachronistic.” 

“It is time to rethink these rules” amid increased threats, they wrote. 

“The structure of the Capitol Police and the laws against threatening Members of Congress were first crafted in a much different time when the threat environment was significantly lower,” their letter, authored by Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) and Dean Phillips (D-Mich.), reads. 

“Today, with the expansion of the web and social media sites, so much information about Members is accessible in the public sphere, making them easier targets, including home addresses, photos, personal details about Members’ families, and real-time information on Member attendance at events,” they added. 

The members also called on leaders to make “concerted efforts” to limit lawmakers’ personal information from being publicly available.

Threats against lawmakers have increased in recent years, with former Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund testifying that there were 4,894 threats against members in fiscal 2018, compared to 902 investigated threats in 2016, lawmakers wrote.  

Their letter comes a day after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) cautioned that the U.S. could face increased threats from “ideologically-motivated violent extremists” after President Biden’s inauguration. 

In the raid on the Capitol earlier this month, which resulted in five deaths, supporters of former President Trump stormed the building as Congress met to certify Biden’s election win.