Where Congress Learns About Congress
For the week ending March 26, 2020, there were 4 Capitol Police incidents reported; 5 individuals arrested. There was 1 traffic related incident.
Here’s how this week’s activity was distributed:
Continue reading “Capitol Police Round Up: Week Ending March 26, 2020”For the week ending March 19, 2020, there were 13 Capitol Police incidents reported; 13 individuals arrested. There were 6 traffic related incidents, including 2 invalid permit arrests.
Here’s how this week’s activity was distributed:
Continue reading “Capitol Police Round Up: Week Ending March 19, 2020”Congress is underfunded, plain and simple.
The Legislative Branch has received the smallest slice of the federal spending pie— less than 1% of all non-defense discretionary funds — for years. How does Congress allocate these limited funds? Have those priorities shifted over the last decade?
We took a look at the 2010 and 2020 Legislative Branch budgets, plus the proposed values for 2021 to find out. Historic values were adjusted to 2020 dollars; figures do not include supplemental appropriations or Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) appropriations.
Continue reading “2010 vs. 2020: How The Legislative Branch Distributes Its Funds”For the week ending March 12, 2020, there were 9 Capitol Police incidents reported; 10 individuals arrested. There were 5 traffic related incidents, including 2 invalid permit arrests. On Wednesday, March 4th, the Capitol Police arrested 2 individuals actively demonstrating in room 2358-C of the Rayburn House Office Building and also arrested an individual for throwing a piece of paper at a Member of Congress during a committee hearing in room 342 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.
Here’s how this week’s activity was distributed:
Continue reading “Capitol Police Round Up: Week Ending March 12, 2020”For the week ending March 5, 2020, there were 10 Capitol Police incidents reported; 14 individuals arrested. There were 7 traffic related incidents, including 3 invalid permit arrests. Capitol Police arrested 4 individuals who were demonstrating during a committee hearing in the Rayburn House Office Building on Friday, February 28 around 9 am.
Here’s how this week’s activity was distributed:
Continue reading “Capitol Police Round Up: Week Ending March 5, 2020”For the week ending February 27, 2020, there were 8 Capitol Police incidents reported; 17 individuals arrested. There were 6 traffic related incidents, including 3 invalid permit arrests. Capitol Police arrested 10 individuals for blocking vehicle and pedestrian traffic while chanting and holding signs near First Street, NE on Monday, February 24 around 10:30 am.
Continue reading “Capitol Police Round Up: Week Ending February 27, 2020”For the week ending February 20, 2020, there were 9 Capitol Police incidents reported; 9 individuals arrested. There were 4 traffic related incidents, including 3 invalid permit arrests. Capitol Police arrested ‘multiple’ individuals for crowding and obstructing Emancipation Hall of the Capitol Visitor Center on Monday, February 17th around 11 am.
Here’s how this week’s activity was distributed:
Continue reading “Capitol Police Round Up: Week Ending February 20, 2020”For the week ending February 13, 2020, there were 9 Capitol Police incidents reported; 18 individuals arrested. There were 2 traffic related incidents, including 1 invalid permit arrest. Capitol Police arrested 10 individuals for crowding and obstructing the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol Building on Wednesday, February 5th at 1:47 pm.
Here’s how this week’s activity was distributed:
Continue reading “Capitol Police Round Up: Week Ending February 13, 2020”Written by Amelia Strauss, [email protected]
Research and Editing Contributions by Daniel Schuman & Taylor J. Swift
Download this report as a PDF here. Download the underlying data as a CSV here.
Congress has a security-force-police-department hybrid, the U.S. Capitol Police (USCP), tasked with the critical mission of protecting the Congress—Members, employees, and visitors—so constitutionally mandated business can be carried out in a safe and open environment. The department mitigates threats against Members of Congress, which the House Sergeant at Arms says have increased three-fold in recent years, with some cases resulting in criminal charges [1]. Additionally, USCP evaluates millions of Capitol campus visitors each year, screening more than 10 million visitors in 2018 alone.
The department has 2,300 employees and a budget of over $460 million to protect its extended jurisdiction of almost two-square-miles. That’s enough staff to rival the Atlanta Police Department, and its budget eclipses spending levels of police departments in cities like Austin, Texas and Detroit, Michigan.
USCP absorbs almost 10% of Congress’ (already limited) funding, a percentage that has dramatically increased over the last decade. Does USCP use that money and manpower efficiently and effectively? The short answer is, we don’t know.
For the week ending February 6, 2020, there were 19 Capitol Police incidents reported; 58 individuals arrested. There were 5 traffic related incidents, including 4 invalid permit arrests. Capitol Police arrested 39 individuals for crowding and obstructing the entrance of the U.S. Capitol Building on Wednesday, January 29th at 2:06 pm.
Here’s how this week’s activity was distributed:
Continue reading “Capitol Police Round Up: Week Ending February 6, 2020”