WASHINGTON — Lawmakers expressed relief over a special designation for this coming Jan. 6, saying it will boost security on what could be a tense day at the Capitol. But the move is just the beginning, some said.
The designation, made by the Department of Homeland Security and announced last month by the Secret Service, comes amid fears of a potential repeat of the attack on Jan. 6, 2021, when a mob of President Donald Trump’s supporters broke into the Capitol in an attempt to stop the count of electoral votes.
“Anything we can do to prevent a violent insurrection or an inside political coup, we should be doing,” said Maryland Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin, a member of the House select committee that investigated the attack. “But if you have a faction in society that fundamentally does not accept the outcome of democratic elections and the rule of law, there is not any kind of legal panacea to the problem. We have to be prepared at every level for what’s coming at us.”
Rep. Byron Donalds, a congressional ally of Trump’s, swept aside the idea of a Jan. 6 repeat, but embraced the plan for beefed-up security.
“I think fears are overblown, but I think it’s also a response to what happened four years ago. So I think that’s more prudence than anything else. We should be prudent,” the Florida Republican said.
Throughout his current presidential campaign, Trump has refused to acknowledge he lost the 2020 election. He recently said he had “every right” to interfere in the election and, in his first debate with Vice President and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, deflected responsibility for the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol.
“Whenever the former president is involved and democracy is in question, I’m always very, very concerned,” said Rep. Joseph D. Morelle of New York, ranking member on the House Administration Committee. He’s among those both on and off the Hill who are gaming out the scenarios in an effort to prepare for Jan. 6, as reported by The Washington Post.
“He just continues to thumb his nose at the rule of law and the orderly and peaceful transfer of power,” Morelle said. “So I think with Donald Trump we’ve learned to expect the worst.”
The designation of National Special Security Event comes in response to a request from D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, according to a statement from the Secret Service, and marks the first time such a status has been granted for the certification of electoral results. It unlocks additional resources from the federal government, state and local partners to design and implement a security plan for the day Electoral College votes are certified by Congress.
The House select committee tasked with investigating Jan. 6 recommended such a move in its final report, noting that presidential inaugurations and State of the Union speeches already earn that distinction.
“I applaud the decision to provide additional resources to secure the event and protect American democracy in the process. However, we all know the only reason such a designation is necessary is Donald Trump,” Rep. Bennie Thompson, the Mississippi Democrat who led the select committee, said in an emailed statement. “I look forward to the day when this administrative function can operate like any day on the congressional calendar.”
Rep. Jim Himes, a Connecticut Democrat who serves as ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee, described it as a “relief” during a Thursday morning appearance on MSNBC.
“It’s a relief for a lot of us that were stuck in the chamber on Jan. 6. I was one of them, and that is not something that any of us, certainly not I, want to go through again,” he told anchor Ana Cabrera.
While he said it was “good to know that the security failures of that day will not be repeated,” he raised other concerns. “What worries me more … is just the poisoning of the atmosphere, you know, ex-President Trump already starting to say this election will be rigged and he’s not sure he’ll accept the results.”
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who leads the Senate Rules and Administration Committee, voiced her support for the designation and pointed to other precautions Congress has taken over the last few years.
“We have already taken significant steps to protect the peaceful transfer of power ahead of this year’s election, including updating the Electoral Count Act with broad bipartisan support and making needed security improvements following the horrific events of January 6th,” the Minnesota Democrat said in an emailed statement.
The updated Electoral Count Act, which became law in 2022, clarified that the vice president has only a “ministerial” role in certifying election results and raised the threshold for objecting to electors. Klobuchar also highlighted a second piece of legislation, which she introduced, that allows the Capitol Police chief to unilaterally request emergency assistance from the National Guard. That bill was signed into law in 2021.
Capitol Police leadership came under fire in the wake of the 2021 attack, leading to the resignation of the chief and other top security officials.
“I’m glad they’re taking proactive measures this time. That’s what should have been done four years ago, especially since the USCP leadership had the intel in mid-December of 2020 but failed to plan, prepare and communicate this with the rank and file officers,” said Gus Papathanasiou, who leads the Capitol Police union.
Police Chief J. Thomas Manger, who took over the department in the months following the attack, said the special designation, in addition to other changes made within the department, would bolster police’s ability to protect members and the Capitol.
“The United States Capitol Police has been preparing for the January 6 count, as well as the Inauguration, for several months,” Manger said in an emailed statement. “We have made hundreds of changes and improvements over the past three years, and we are confident that the Capitol will be safe and secure.”