House approves extra funding for lawmaker security

The House passed a measure on Tuesday that grants lawmakers an extra $25,000 to pay for security needs in the wake of the shooting at the GOP baseball practice this month.

Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) had briefed House Republicans on Friday about possibly expanding lawmakers’ annual office budgets to help pay for security costs. House Administration Committee Chairman Gregg Harper (R-Miss.) then brought up a resolution four days later that passed by unanimous consent.

“This month, our congressional community was impacted by a terrible, senseless attack committed by an armed gunman who opened fire at a practice for the annual Congressional Baseball Game,” Harper said in a statement.

{mosads}”While federal law enforcement continues to investigate this attack, our committee has been listening to Members and their concerns regarding the safety of their constituents, staffers, as well as themselves.”

The funds allocated by the resolution will be available to House members through Jan. 2, 2018.

Lawmakers will be able to use the extra money to pay for security at their offices or public events, as long is it is for official business.

They cannot use the extra funding to secure their homes.

Ryan told House Republicans that leaders are trying to find ways to help with home security after lawmakers expressed concern about facing threats at their personal residences.

One option would be for the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to rule that lawmakers could use campaign funds to secure their homes. To date, the FEC has issued case-by-case rulings to let members of Congress use campaign money for that purpose.

Members of both parties had called on leadership to enhance security measures after the shooting at the GOP baseball practice earlier this month.

A gunman shot four people, including House Majority Steve Scalise (R-La.), who is still recovering at MedStar Washington Hospital Center from injuries that his doctors said were initially life-threatening.

A Tyson Foods lobbyist, a staffer for Rep. Roger Williams (R-Texas) and one of the members of Scalise’s Capitol Police detail were also shot.

Members of leadership are all assigned individual Capitol Police security details. Lawmakers acknowledged that the shooting likely would have been much worse if Scalise and his detail had not been present at the practice.

House appropriators also released a spending bill for 2018 legislative branch operations last week that would increase funding for the Capitol Police by $29.2 million compared to the current spending level. That includes $7.5 million for increased training and equipment support.