STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Many members of Congress witnessed Saturday's attack at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner. The lawmakers were guests of the media figures in the room, who invite sources to join them. Now lawmakers consider what role, if any, they should play in addressing security concerns. NPR congressional correspondent Barbara Sprunt is with us. Barbara, good morning.
BARBARA SPRUNT, BYLINE: Good morning, Steve.
INSKEEP: What are lawmakers saying?
SPRUNT: Well, there's a lot of shock that this happened and a lot of concern, frankly, about their own safety in this time of growing political violence. Congress itself saw a record number of threats last year, and those, of course, come on top of multiple assassination attempts against President Trump in just the last two years. House Speaker Mike Johnson talked about that on Fox News.
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MIKE JOHNSON: The president has now had three failed assassination attempts. I have been with him for two of those. It's - it - this can't go on.
SPRUNT: Johnson says he has questions about the level of security on Saturday. The House Oversight Committee has requested a briefing from Secret Service, and Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri is calling for a hearing in the same committee that conducted an investigation after the attempted assassination of the president in Butler, Pennsylvania, in 2024.
INSKEEP: Barbara, I noticed that the White House lost no time in making use of this attack by saying it proved the need for the president's White House ballroom. What do lawmakers say about that?
SPRUNT: That's right. Well, I mean, it's not surprising that this is getting some partisan traction. Senate Budget Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham has said that he wants Congress to pass a standalone bill to provide $400 million for the construction of this secure White House ballroom. Here he is yesterday talking about the alleged gunman over the weekend.
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LINDSEY GRAHAM: Only God knows what would have happened if he'd gotten in the room. I honestly believe the likelihood of that happening if we had a secure facility attached to the White House would go down exponentially, so we're reacting to a problem that's been identified.
SPRUNT: And there's general support from congressional Republicans about this effort, saying that this would be for future presidents, too, to be able to hold large events with higher security. But there's not support from Democrats for this. Here's New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
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ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ: He also promised the American people that this was going to be built with private dollars. And so the idea that they are now trying to change the rationale for this in retrospect doesn't quite add up.
SPRUNT: And, Steve, there's also the question of whether such a dinner would ever even be held in a future White House ballroom. You know, the dinner happens every year. It's not hosted by the White House. It's hosted by an association of journalists who cover the White House. And I'm not sure that they would agree to have such an event on White House grounds.
INSKEEP: Sure. Now, obviously, the Secret Service was working over the weekend. The Department of Homeland Security is operating, but technically, the agency is shut down or unfunded. Does this add any more urgency to the negotiations to reopen it?
SPRUNT: You know, there was already a lot of urgency heading into this week, I'll say. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has already said that, come May, which is not that far away, the emergency funds that they've been using to pay employees of the department will run out. So the clock is already very much ticking.
INSKEEP: NPR's Barbara Sprunt will cover whatever happens next. Barbara, thanks so much.
SPRUNT: Thank you, Steve. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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