Members of the House of Representatives can now request expense reimbursements, from taxpayer funds, for costs related to obtaining bulletproof vests and hiring security personnel.
On Tuesday, the House Administration Committee voted to pass, via voice vote, a resolution amending the congressional handbook, a codebook for elected representatives citing the official conduct and ethics guidelines members are bound to while in office. The amendment allows members to hire security personnel to protect and "accompany" them while in their districts on official business and while at constituent events. The handbook specifically cites "town halls" as the type of district events where security expenses would be eligible for reimbursement.
This new addition is likely the result of the increased volatility members of Congress have faced while home in their districts conducting town halls. At a September town hall in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, a man was arrested for asking Sen. Pat Toomey (R., Pa.) questions that were interpreted as threats against the senator's daughter. In October, anti-Trump protesters disrupted a town hall in Michigan hosted by Rep. Jack Bergman (R.), preventing the first-term congressman from being able to address his constituents appropriately.
The new amendment also allows members to request reimbursement for staff security training, and for hiring a security detail to be stationed inside or outside their district offices during official business hours.
Members cannot, however, seek reimbursements for any work that is done to fortify their district offices, such as the installation of bulletproof glass. Costs of the sort would instead be included in the monthly expenses that are allocated for district office leases.
The official change comes only months after a deranged gunman opened fire on Republican members of Congress last June while they practiced for the annual congressional baseball game at a park in Alexandria, Virginia. The shooter wounded House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R., La.) and four others he was being killed by Capitol Police. The gunman was an avowed Bernie Sanders supporter with a sordid history of alcohol and domestic abuse. Between May 8 and June 22, including the GOP baseball practice, over 30 Republican members of Congress were either attacked or threatened.
House Administration Committee chairman Rep. Gregg Harper's (R., Mo.) office did not respond to requests for comment by time of publication.