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Trump seeks Ksh7.4B in security funding, cites threats after Charlie Kirk killing
15th September, 2025 08:19 AM
The Trump administration has asked Congress to approve $58 million in emergency funding to bolster security for the Supreme Court, citing a surge in threats against public officials after the killing of the conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
The request, sent to lawmakers last week, underscores growing fears in Washington that federal officials face extraordinary danger from political violence.
In a formal notice to Congress, the administration said the money would go to the U.S. Marshals Service to cover additional protective operations for the justices.
The proposal comes just days after Mr. Kirk, a close ally of President Trump and a prominent voice in the conservative movement, was killed in what the authorities have described as a politically motivated attack. His death has heightened concerns among both Democrats and Republicans about the safety of high-profile figures in government and politics.
The additional funding “is necessary due to increased threats against public officials,” the request said, pointing to “anticipated costs for the marshals to provide protective services for the Supreme Court of the United States.” The money would remain available through September 2027.
The administration also acknowledged in its request that Congress itself faced the possibility of violence. While the White House stopped short of dictating how to expand protections for the legislative branch, it urged lawmakers to consider adding additional resources for the Capitol Police and other security measures.
Security for lawmakers has undergone significant changes in the years since the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Chief among them was an overhaul of the Capitol Police’s authority, which allowed it to obtain new equipment and broadened its capabilities to protect lawmakers when they are outside of Washington.
Still, incidents persisted after the changes, including threats to the homes and district offices of members. In 2022, a man was arrested after breaking into Representative Nancy Pelosi’s house in San Francisco and attacking her husband. Another man was arrested in January after it was discovered that he had entered the Capitol and Library of Congress with a concealed handgun.
When lawmakers return to Washington this week, they are expected to continue working on a solution to fund the federal government and avert a shutdown temporarily. Among the funding items to be discussed is increased security spending for lawmakers and their staff.
“The administration supports increasing funding for security and protective measures for the legislative branch and defers to Congress on the most appropriate way to accomplish this,” the administration’s notice stated.
Speaker Mike Johnson, Republican of Louisiana, has been approached by lawmakers in both parties about security and safety, an intensifying concern among lawmakers for years. In an interview on “Fox News Sunday,” he placed part of the blame for the tension on heated political rhetoric.
“People have got to stop framing simple policy disagreements in terms of existential threats to our democracy,” he said. “You can’t call the other side fascists and enemies of the state and not understand that there are some deranged people in our society who will take that as cues to act.”
It was unclear whom Mr. Johnson’s remarks were directed at, but the use of the term “fascist” has been embraced at different points by Democratic and Republican party leaders.
Speaker Mike Johnson has been approached by lawmakers from both parties about security and safety, an intensifying concern among lawmakers for years.Credit…Tierney L. Cross/The New York Times
While campaigning for a second term in office, Mr. Trump used the term several times to attack officials, many of whom were Democrats, who took part in the criminal prosecutions against him. “Every time the radical left Democrats, Marxists, communists, and fascists indict me, I consider it actually a great badge of honor,” he said during a rally in Erie, Pa., in July 2023.
Months earlie,r when protesters in New York City heckled her, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, Republican of Georgia, used the term to describe Democrats who she said were trying to stop her from speaking out against criminal proceedings against Mr. Trump.
“The Democrat party — they’re the fascists,” she said during a Fox News interview in April 2023. “They want to cancel our voices, they want to censor us, and they want to completely force us into complying.”
But so too have Mr. Trump’s rivals used the term repeatedly to attack his policy decisions and actions taken in the White House. During a CNN town hall in 2024, former Vice President Kamala Harris labeled Mr. Trump a fascist. And some lawmakers have used the term repeatedly in speeches and media appearances.
Representative Jasmine Crockett, Democrat of Texas, said last week after Mr. Kirk’s killing that sharp attacks against her political rivals did not amount to calls for violence.
“Me disagreeing with you, me calling you, you know, ‘wannabe Hitler’ — all those things are like, not necessarily saying, ‘Go out and hurt somebody,’” Ms. Crockett said during an interview on the “Breakfast Club” radio show.
