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House members will see their monthly stipend for personal private security double following the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, as lawmakers in both parties raise alarms over rising political violence.
The stipend for the personal security pilot program will rise from $5,000 to $10,000 per month, lawmakers said Wednesday. The program will run through Nov. 21, the same deadline as a short-term spending bill proposed by Republican leaders to keep the government open for another seven weeks.
The original $5,000 stipend was approved in July after the assassination of Minnesota Democratic state Speaker Melissa Hortman, and about a year after the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania. It was set to expire on Sept. 30.
Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wis., chairman of the House Administration Committee, said members have widely supported the program. “I’ve received overwhelmingly positive feedback,” he said. “The only negative feedback is that they’d like more resources.”
“So what we did is freed up already available funds and doubled the scope of the program and extended the timeline of the program,” Steil said. He added that the goal is to allow lawmakers to travel freely in their districts. “Talking to folks, talking to real-world people outside the swamp that is D.C., which is absolutely essential for our democracy.”
The stipend increase comes alongside other proposed security measures. The continuing resolution introduced by Republicans includes $30 million for a law enforcement mutual aid fund for members of Congress and $58 million for executive and judicial branch security.
Democrats, however, have introduced their own short-term funding plan, which maintains the $30 million mutual aid fund but adds $90 million for House security programs, $66.5 million for the Senate Sergeant at Arms, and $140 million for the Supreme Court and federal courts.
Steil said the funds to raise the stipend were already appropriated and redirected. For a long-term solution, he said the legislative branch appropriations subcommittee will assess “the appropriate funding level as we go forward.”
“I think a lot of members are just looking and making sure that they understand what programs are available to them to keep them, their families, and others safe,” Steil said.
