A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
The assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk has got some federal lawmakers concerned about their own safety. Here's House Speaker Mike Johnson, who spoke to reporters on Tuesday.
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MIKE JOHNSON: The tragedy has also initiated a number of uncomfortable but necessary conversations about important issues, like the safety and security of our members and the responsibility of public servants.
MARTÍNEZ: House Republicans are proposing $30 million for congressional safety as part of a GOP-led bill to fund the government and to avoid a shutdown. Here's NPR congressional correspondent Barbara Sprunt.
BARBARA SPRUNT, BYLINE: Safety concerns among lawmakers have long been growing, and the recent murder of Charlie Kirk, a friend and counselor to many Republicans on the Hill, has Congress reeling. Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace, who's running for governor in South Carolina, said she's making adjustments to her public schedule.
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NANCY MACE: This is a terrifying time, and I'm not going to be terrorized, and I will be locked and loaded with one in the chamber because it's unsafe.
SPRUNT: New York Democrat Tom Suozzi said he doesn't normally think that much about security concerns for himself.
TOM SUOZZI: But I found myself over the past couple of days, you know, looking around a little bit more and being a little more careful than I normally would.
SPRUNT: He said, frankly, members are scared.
SUOZZI: I'm in several different text chains with members, and I just see a lot of comments back and forth about, you know, what should we do? How should we spend the money that's been allocated for this? What ideas do you have?
SPRUNT: In just the past 14 months, lawmakers have seen two assassination attempts against President Trump, arson at the residence of Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and a man with a hit list of 45 elected Democratic officials who killed one Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband and wounded another lawmaker and his wife.
JOE MORELLE: What happened in Minnesota was a wake-up call for folks. I think this shortly on the heels of that with another public figure just lets members know that this can happen anyone at any moment.
SPRUNT: That's Congressman Joe Morelle of New York. He's the top Democrat on the House Administration Committee, which oversees safety programs. They can be expensive, but he says they're important in a time of increasing threats. Capitol Police agents are seeing a significant uptick in threats this year. They're already on track to assess roughly 14,000 threats by the end of the year.
MORELLE: If we get to a point where constituents can't engage with their members because the members don't feel comfortable in town halls or don't feel comfortable at highly attended events back in the district, I can't imagine how you'd do your job.
SPRUNT: Morelle works closely with committee chairman Bryan Steil of Wisconsin. He briefed GOP lawmakers yesterday on a plan to put $30 million in security for members into a government spending bill. The money would shore up a long-standing security program called mutual aid.
BRYAN STEIL: The mutual aid bucket is a program where U.S. Capitol Police reimburses local law enforcement to provide security, traditionally in a member's district. So if a member in their home city needed additional security, that security could be paid for by United States Capitol Police.
SPRUNT: Now, any support for lawmakers facing threats is going to be popular on Capitol Hill. But remember, this isn't a standalone bill. It's part of a contentious fight between Democrats and Republicans on government spending as a whole. So the fate of this particular security funding is tied to whether or not they ultimately agree to avoid a shutdown.
Barbara Sprunt, NPR News, the Capitol. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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