The insurrection attempt at the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob has made Scanlon think about political violence “probably every day,” she said. “Until Jan. 6, I didn’t have an alarm system in my home. Before Jan. 6, I’ve never bought pepper spray or other weaponry. … I’m a civics geek. I’m a public servant.”
Scanlon is a member of the House Administration Committee, which oversees legislative branch agencies that support members of Congress, like the Capitol Police and the Architect of the Capitol. She hopes that as the panel continues to hold hearings in the wake of Jan. 6, it will be able to recommend policies to modernize policing and improve intelligence gathering and security around the Capitol.
What’s next?
After the anthrax attacks of 2001, which shuttered congressional office buildings for months and made fear a part of daily life, lawmakers enacted sweeping changes to Hill security, including the addition of the Capitol Visitor Center. Two decades later, some staffers said they want to see something similarly concrete come out of the events of 2021.
Lawmakers have made a start, approving a $2.1 billion spending bill that reimbursed the Capitol Police and National Guard budgets as they worked to secure the Capitol in the days after Jan. 6. The bill also included $300 million to the Architect of the Capitol for security improvements, such as upgrading windows and doors of the Capitol building and installing new cameras around the complex.
While it passed with overwhelming bipartisan support, some key Democrats said the package wasn’t enough. It won’t be able to “secure the Capitol for the long term,” said House Appropriations Chair Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn.
