No civility in a shutdown? For Congress, security fears and rhetoric collide

WASHINGTON — The calls came swiftly and from all across the political spectrum after the assassination of Charlie Kirk.

“We need every political figure, we need everyone who has a platform, to say this loudly and clearly: We can settle disagreements and disputes in a civil manner, and political violence must be called out. And it has to stop,” Speaker Mike Johnson said soon after Kirk was shot.

For a brief period last month, just like in the days after the June murder of Minnesota state lawmaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, widespread calls for civility were paired with a focus in the halls of Congress on tightening member security. A glimmer of consensus appeared to emerge on the potential dangers of escalating political rhetoric, as it often does after similar tragedies — if only fleetingly.

But just weeks later, as the deadline for funding the government approached and then passed, a messaging war ensued. As both political sides now attempt to pin the blame of the shutdown on their opponents, questions about inflammatory rhetoric and safety seem like an afterthought.

While pointing the finger in a shutdown isn’t necessarily inflammatory on its own, Rep. Tim Burchett worried it would “add to people’s frustration.”

“The press is always looking for the boogeyman on this stuff. And you always have that nut out there,” said the Tennessee Republican, who was outspoken in the wake of both killings about the need for stepped-up security measures for members of Congress. “It’s concerning to me.”

In the midst of a funding stalemate that could leave hundreds of thousands of federal workers without paychecks and others jobless, some fear an us vs. them mentality is once again taking hold that could contribute, even obliquely, to an unsafe climate.

“A shutdown distracts from a lot of things, and could clearly distract from a mission like trying to dial down the rhetoric,” said Rodney Davis, an Illinois Republican who joined more than 100 other former members of Congress last year in urging elected officials to rein in the vitriol. “Shutdowns of the past didn’t cause the heated political rhetoric. But frankly, it just adds to the constant barrage of news where Republicans and Democrats seemingly can’t get along.”

It also comes amid a new spate of concerning incidents. In a series of texts sent in 2022 and surfaced this month by National Review, Jay Jones, the Democratic candidate for Virginia attorney general, mused about shooting the state’s then-House speaker. And last week, an Arizona Republican state lawmaker seemed to call for the execution of Washington Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal over comments she made urging nonviolent resistance to President Donald Trump.

According to Jayapal, who has been a frequent target of threats and had an armed man show up outside her Seattle home in 2022, a shutdown may bring heightened interparty tensions. But it doesn’t drastically change her reality.

“I’m on high alert all the time,” Jayapal said. “I have increased security, and when I get into enclosed spaces like an airplane, I’m looking at everybody. I’m assessing my safety at all times and the safety of my staff, my team.”

Reimbursements interrupted

Toning down rhetoric is one thing, while boosting security is another. In the weeks leading up to the shutdown, lawmakers debated how best to keep themselves safe — and how much to spend on it.

Republicans ultimately settled on an extra $30 million to help fund state and local law enforcement partnerships, folding that amount into their larger stopgap spending proposal that passed the House but is now floundering in the Senate. Meanwhile, Capitol Police stressed that the shutdown itself would “not affect the security of the Capitol complex.”

“USCP officers, and the professional staff who perform or support emergency functions, still report to work. According to the Antideficiency Act, these emergency functions are critical for the safety of human life and the protection of property,” the spokesperson said in a statement the day before government funding lapsed.

But some Capitol Police officers fear the uncertainty will affect morale and exacerbate existing complaints on the force about overtime, benefits and retention. And it could interrupt payments for certain security programs, potentially adding to lawmakers’ anxiety, depending on how long it lasts.

According to guidance circulated last week by the House Administration Committee, the House Sergeant-at-Arms will temporarily suspend payments to vendors for district office security and will not process reimbursements for residential security programs during the shutdown.

For example, reimbursements will temporarily stop for members who are installing security equipment at their homes. And the same goes for House members who want to hire personal security when they’re in their home districts, as part of a recently extended pilot program that provides up to $10,000 per month.

“To avoid a lapse in service, Members will have to incur the expense and then seek reimbursement once government funding is restored,” the guidance states.

“It weighs a lot on me, and not just my personal security, but the security of my family,” Rep. Norma Torres said when asked about affected programs during the shutdown. The California Democrat has spoken about sleeping with a gun nearby after receiving threats stemming from an online spat with Salvadoran strongman President Nayib Bukele. Member security is a priority, she said, but other issues are more important at the moment.

Democrats have refused to vote for the GOP stopgap partly in protest of cuts to Medicaid and Republicans’ unwillingness to negotiate over enhanced tax credits for health insurance purchased on government-run exchanges. Those credits are due to expire at the end of the year, and without action, a broad swath of Americans could see significant premium increases. Some Democrats have also cited what they view as Trump’s authoritarian tendencies, including the impoundment of appropriated funds.

“We have to stand up for the rule of law, for democracy. Right now, my constituents are so afraid of losing their health care,” Torres said. “We cannot be afraid to do our jobs.”

Rep. Joseph D. Morelle, ranking member of the House Administration Committee, said the best thing would have been to pass appropriations bills to keep the government open but he hopes the disruption will be minimal.

“We’re going to continue to monitor, to work with the Sergeant-at-Arms and the Capitol Police (on) trying to make sure our members are safe, notwithstanding whatever challenges there are,” the New York Democrat said last week.

On the other side of the Capitol, Oklahoma GOP Sen. Markwayne Mullin, who leads the Senate Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee, said, “Security won’t lapse. We have funding set aside. We’ll continue to make sure there is no security lapse.”

‘Ask the Democrats’

Mullin also said he was concerned about the tone and tenor of political dialogue amid a shutdown, but he referred the question to his colleagues across the aisle.

“The rhetoric is affected, but I guess you need to ask the Democrats about this, because they can open the government in five minutes if they want to,” Mullin said.

Torres, similarly, was quick to point at the other party, saying she hopes “Republicans will check themselves” during the lapse in government funding.

Partisan tensions are only heightened, some argue, by the words and actions of Trump, who in the wake of Kirk’s killing vowed to crack down on the “radical left.” Since the shutdown he has shared AI videos of Democratic leaders in sombreros. Last week he posted a clip of Russell Vought, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, as death personified, set to the tune of Blue Oyster Cult’s “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper.”

The president’s posts prompted a brief confrontation between Pennsylvania Democratic Rep. Madeleine Dean and Johnson. In a moment outside the speaker’s office that was captured by reporters, she approached him and brought up a doctored video posted by Trump of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries wearing the traditional Mexican hat.

“It’s disgraceful. It’s bigoted. It’s racist. You should call it out,” Dean said of the video. Johnson responded, “It wasn’t my style.”

Responses to Trump’s posts have been mixed. Mullin said the Trump-circulated image of Jeffries in a sombrero was “hilarious,” and some members of the congressional GOP have posted similar memes on their own accounts.

“There’s a lot of funny memes out there. Y’all see some of them floating around about me,” Mullin said. “Some of them are a little edgy, but I still think they’re all funny.”

Vice President JD Vance is himself the subject of many memes and has at times made light of posts that skewer him. But after Kirk’s death he was among the Republican officials blaming Democratic rhetoric for inciting violence. “If you want to stop political violence, stop telling your supporters that everybody who disagrees with you is a Nazi,” Vance said last month.

Jayapal, meanwhile, said there was a distinction to be made between posts that make fun of or may dehumanize the other side and outright threats against political opponents. But both can contribute to the devolution of political discourse.

“Posting racist AI memes about Hakeem Jeffries, the first Black minority leader in the country, is so beyond the pale. So much of what we’re seeing is so beyond the pale,” Jayapal said.

Pledging civility, she said, only goes so far if you’re not willing to call out those on your side who cross the line.

“If you really wanted to break out of this, you would need leaders on both sides who were decrying violence that comes from their folks and holding people accountable for that,” Jayapal said.

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