by Madeleine Hubbard
House and Senate campaign security budgets were more than 500% higher in the 2022 midterms than they were during the 2020 election season, according to a new analysis.
The House and Senate spent $1.3 million on security for their 2020 campaigns but spent nearly $8 million in 2022, “The Washington Post” reported Monday, citing Federal Election Commission records.
The increase comes after federal campaign finance rules changed to make it easier to spend money on security.
Additionally, House members spent more taxpayer dollars on security, with costs rising from about $675,000 in 2020 to $1.2 million in 2022.
Even with significant increases in security spending, lawmakers say that more needs to be done to combat threats against themselves and their staffers.
“We’re asking them to come and do a difficult job already,” Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga., said about his staffers. He increased district office security spending by nearly $2,000 when lawmakers’ funding allowance increased. “They’re dealing with somewhat of a stressful environment already, and then when their physical safety is threatened, you know, you need to make sure you’re taking care of your folks.”
Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., has faced about 250 credible threats this year. “We’re not far away from a member who has faced a barrage of threats being attacked at a time that they did not have a threat detail, and I hate to say that, but I know that’s coming,” he said.
The threats are not only limited to members of Congress and their staffers. In a recent high-profile attack, Paul Pelosi, the husband of Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., was brutally attacked last year with a hammer at his San Francisco home.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Capitol Police force is being forced to protect members of Congress around the nation, Chief J. Thomas Manger said in May.
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Madeleine Hubbard joined Just the News as a fast file reporter after working as an editor at Breitbart News.
Photo “Capitol Police” by Elvert Barnes. CC BY-SA 2.0.
