Tag: U.S. Capitol

Pelosi warns of threat from ‘all the president’s men’

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Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Thursday called for more funding for Capitol security, citing the ongoing threat of violence from “all the president’s men” — a reference to the mob of former President Trump‘s supporters who ransacked the Capitol on Jan. 6. 

“Between COVID — where we need to have vaccinations more broadly in the Capitol so that many more people can come here and do their jobs — [and] the threat of all the president’s men out there, we have to ensure with our security that we are safe enough to do our job, but not impeding [that work],” Pelosi told reporters at a press briefing.

The security issue has been front and center since the mob overwhelmed law enforcement officers and forced the evacuation of lawmakers who were certifying President Biden‘s victory in the Electoral College. Continue reading.

Retired Lt. Gen. Karen Gibson tapped as Senate sergeant-at-arms in wake of Capitol attack

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Women also named to deputy and chief of staff posts

Retired Army Lt. Gen. Karen Gibson will be the new Senate sergeant-at-arms, following three decades of active-duty military service, Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer announced Wednesday.

Gibson will take over the Senate’s SAA operation at a pivotal moment, as lawmakers are calling for an overhaul of Capitol security and the Capitol Police Board in the wake of the violent insurrection on Jan. 6 that left many questions about preparedness and coordination of response.

Former Sergeant-at-Arms Michael C. Stenger resigned after the attack on the Capitol, as did his House counterpart, Paul D. Irving, and Capitol Police Chief Steven A. Sund. Continue reading.

‘Three percenters’ truck at Capitol belongs to husband of congresswoman who said, ‘Hitler was right on one thing’

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An Illinois lawmaker married to a member of Congress, who was herself recently criticized for quoting Hitler, is facing his own rebuke for displaying the logo of an extremist movement on his pickup truck at the U.S. Capitol complex in Washington on Jan. 6.

A photo shared on Twitter on Wednesday showed that Chris Miller, a Republican member of the Illinois General Assembly, had a decal of the Three Percenters anti-government movement prominently displayed on his truck while it was parked at the East Front of the Capitol — an area that was highly restricted Jan. 6.

His wife, Rep. Mary E. Miller (R-Ill.), had been sworn in to her first term in the House just days earlier. Continue reading.

Lawmakers propose draft bill to create Capitol riot commission

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Congressional leaders are discussing draft legislation for a bipartisan commission that would investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, with the latest proposal giving Democrats more sway over its membership.

According to a senior Democratic aide, a draft bill under discussion would allow each of the four top House and Senate leaders of each party to appoint two members. President Biden would also choose three additional members, including the commission’s chair.

That would give Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Biden the ability to choose a total of seven members, while Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) would choose a total of four members. Continue reading.

Ghosts of our unsettled past

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The House managers walked quietly through Statuary Hall to present the single article of impeachment against former president Donald Trump to the Senate. Americans have now become deeply familiar with this civics lesson, one that features members of the House striding slowly through the hall as though they are part of a funeral procession. What once seemed so rare and arcane has now become a sad hum in the background — the contrails of an administration that the country may take a generation to shake.

The former president was impeached for a second time in the House of Representatives, most recently for “engaging in high Crimes and Misdemeanors by inciting violence against the Government of the United States.” In other words, he egged on the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol early this month. And so on Monday evening, with the Capitol blessedly quiet and calm, one could hear the footfalls of the legislators on the stone floor as they walked two by two, solemnly focused on their task. A few camera shutters clicked, but mostly there was an eerie silence in a space that has been the location of so much tumult, so many emotions in such a short span of time.

The impeachment managers moved though a room filled with the ghosts of our distant past and the fresh memories of our troubled present. Continue reading.

Pelosi taps retired Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré to conduct Capitol security review

Congressional committees will also continue review of the attack and preventing future events

Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced Friday that she’s asked retired Army Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré to lead an “immediate” review of the Capitol security posture after the Jan. 6 attack on Congress.

“We must subject this whole complex though to scrutiny in light of what happened and the fact that the inauguration is coming,” the California Democrat said at her weekly news conference. 

Pelosi said Honoré, who has accepted her request, will review the Capitol “security infrastructure, interagency processes and command and control.”  Continue reading.

Capitol’s COVID-19 spike could be bad Thanksgiving preview

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Congress is experiencing a spike in COVID-19 cases among lawmakers while doing exactly what Americans are being warned not to do for Thanksgiving this year: gathering together after traveling from all over the country. 

In the last week alone, seven members of Congress have tested positive for COVID-19, with three others quarantining after exposure. 

Three of those lawmakers with COVID-19 cast floor votes alongside their colleagues this week before learning they had the virus, underscoring the risks for everyone on Capitol Hill when cases in the U.S. are spiking rapidly.

COVID-19 cases keep rising in Capitol complex

123 Legislative Branch employees have tested, or are presumed, positive

As COVID-19 cases spread through the White House and ruffle the Senate, cases among front-line workers on Capitol Hill continue to rise in the center of American government, which to this day lacks a comprehensive testing regimen for all workers.

There are now 123 Legislative Branch employees or contractors who have tested positive — or are presumed positive — for COVID-19, according to Ashley Phelps, a Republican spokeswoman for the House Administration Committee. This total has increased by 20 since Aug. 28.

The count includes 46 Capitol Police employees, 42 Architect of the Capitol employees and 35 contractors working on the Cannon Building renovation project. These numbers reflect total cases since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Continue reading.

House votes to remove Confederate statues from Capitol

The Hill logoThe House voted Wednesday to approve legislation to remove statues in the Capitol of people who served the Confederacy or otherwise worked to defend slavery, a moment sparked by the demonstrations for racial justice across the country.

The legislation was approved in a 305-113 vote. All of the “no” votes came from GOP lawmakers, while 72 Republicans voted to remove the statues.

“Just imagine what it feels like as an African American to know that my ancestors built the Capitol, but yet there are monuments to the very people that enslaved my ancestors,” Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.), the leader of the Congressional Black Caucus, said ahead of the vote. Continue reading.

Pelosi orders removal of Confederate portraits in Capitol

The Hill logoSpeaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Thursday ordered the removal of four portraits in the Capitol of previous House Speakers who served in the Confederacy.

The move marks Pelosi’s latest effort to take down Confederate imagery in the Capitol, following her push last week calling for the removal of 11 Confederate statues displayed in the Capitol complex.

“We didn’t know about this until we were taking inventory of the statues and the curator told us that there were four paintings of Speakers in the Capitol of the United States, four Speakers who had served in the Confederacy,” Pelosi told reporters in the Capitol. Continue reading.