The White House has requested a further $58 million in security funding for the chief and judicial branches following the assassination of Charlie Kirk, a Republican congressional aide stated.
The funding request is being “actively processed” in the context of a stopgap funding invoice, the aide stated. Lawmakers are dealing with a looming end-of-month deadline to fund the federal government and stave off a shutdown, with House GOP leaders anticipated to maneuver this week on a invoice.
The request, first reported by Punchbowl News, comes amid heightened concerns in Washington about security for public officers, together with amongst members of Congress, in the wake of the Kirk assassination.
In July, following the deadly shootings concentrating on state lawmakers in Minnesota, the House increased security funding and sources for lawmakers in their dwelling districts as a part of a brand new program. House Speaker Mike Johnson beforehand stated that roughly 60 Democrats and 20 Republicans took benefit of this system, and he needs to look at what labored and what didn’t.
On Sunday, Johnson stated he’s been working to reassure House members about their private security and congressional leaders are taking a look at “all the options” to bolster it.
“I’ve been talking with a lot of them over the last few days about that and trying to calm the nerves to assure them that we will make certain that everyone has a level of security that’s necessary,” he stated over the weekend on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
The speaker echoed calls from leaders from each events on Capitol Hill urging lawmakers to “turn down the rhetoric.”
“There are some deranged people in society, and when they see leaders using that kind of language so often now, increasingly, it spurs them on to action,” he stated, including that he’s “heartened” to see “many of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle are stepping up and saying that.”