One year ago, then-former President Donald Trump was shot during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The tragic event, which resulted in the death of a rallygoer, Corey Comperatore, transformed the 2024 presidential race. In Butler, there is still little in the way of answers. This Washington Examiner series will look at where things stand one year on, Secret Service reforms, and the rise in political violence in the United States. This third installment looks at threats to lawmakers’ safety.
Threats against public officials have risen in the year since the first assassination attempt on President Donald Trump, prompting lawmakers to demand more resources and to lower the political temperature, warning that extreme language can incite violence.
Trump’s two assassination attempts during his bid for a second term drew bipartisan outrage and renewed appeals to cool the country’s overheated political rhetoric.
But the violence has only escalated. Earlier this year, a Democratic state lawmaker in Minnesota and her husband were shot and killed in their home in what officials described as a targeted assassination. Just days earlier, another Democratic officeholder and his wife were wounded in a similar attack.
In Texas, 10 people were charged in a coordinated assault on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility that left a police officer shot in the neck. In June, threats from an armed man forced the evacuation of the Texas State Capitol. A 25-year-old is facing federal charges after allegedly sending messages threatening sexual violence against Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Deb Fischer (R-NE).
Other incidents have raised alarms: someone set fire to Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s home; two Israeli Embassy staffers were killed outside a Jewish museum in Washington, D.C.; an armed man was arrested near Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s house; and a gunman in Wisconsin murdered a retired judge while carrying a hit list that included Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI) and Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY).
Whitmer was also the target of a 2021 kidnapping plot, and in 2022, a man broke into the San Francisco home of then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and bludgeoned her husband with a hammer. This summer also marks eight years since a gunman opened fire at a Republican congressional baseball practice in Virginia, gravely wounding House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA).
More recently, Rep. Max Miller (R-OH) said he was “run off the road” by a man waving a Palestinian flag who threatened him and his young daughter.
“I got run off the road because some individual wanted to get my attention, and he couldn’t, and he decided to use his vehicle as a weapon,” Miller said on Monday. “Enough is enough.”
The suspect, Feras Hamdan of Westlake, Ohio, surrendered to police after Miller, who is Jewish, filed a criminal complaint accusing him of aggravated menacing.
“If you have an issue with your city councilman, your mayor, your legislator, your governor, your Senator, call them and set up a meeting,” Miller said. “My family has now been put right in harm’s way. And enough is enough, and it’s not just on members of Congress. It’s also on our constituents to act with decorum and just to behave with respect.”
Politically motivated violence ranks among the country’s top threats in 2025, according to the Department of Homeland Security’s most recent annual assessment. The report flagged a growing volume of violent rhetoric in online spaces frequented by domestic extremists, much of it tied to divisive topics such as immigration, abortion, LGBT rights, and the 2024 election. Officials warned that such rhetoric is likely to continue fueling threats this year.
An investigation by the U.S. Capitol Police found that the number of direct threats and alarming statements aimed at members of Congress more than doubled between 2017 and 2024, including an 18.3% increase from 2023 to 2024 alone.
In response, Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA), Republican Study Committee Chairman August Pfluger (R-TX), and others introduced a resolution marking the first anniversary of the Trump assassination attempt. The measure condemns all political violence and specifically references recent attacks targeting Shapiro and Minnesota state lawmakers.
“Let’s be clear, we must stand up together to oppose violence against our nation’s leaders all across each party,” Kelly said.
Rep. Laurel Lee (R-FL) called for a united front to address the threat.
“It is a call to action. Threats and attacks, whether against the president, a judge, a member of Congress or ICE agents are unacceptable, and to those who would commit these types of acts of violence, know this, the full force of federal law enforcement will find you, will stop you, and will hold you accountable,” she said. “Political violence has no place in America, and we must do everything in our power together to ensure that it never happens again.”
The U.S. Capitol Police has increased security for members of Congress linked to the Minnesota shootings, including offering 24-hour protection to those named in the alleged shooter’s writings. The agency said it is working closely with congressional and law enforcement partners to strengthen safety plans and has implemented additional “proactive enhancements.” However, it did not specify what those measures include.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) warned that Capitol Police are overwhelmed by the surge in threats, with too few resources to respond adequately. She said the matter crosses party lines and shared that she had recently worked with the FBI after someone left a syringe in her mailbox. She also referenced previous cases in which people were convicted of plotting to kill her.
“The Capitol Police don’t have enough resources, and all of my colleagues here can tell you their own stories of dealing with death threats,” Greene said. “I think we do need protection—and we don’t have any.”
Currently, full-time security details are reserved for top congressional leaders. Lawmakers can request additional protection only if Capitol Police determine a credible threat. To help mitigate risk, federal officials now allow members to use office funds for home security systems and campaign money to hire private guards.
In some cases, Greene said, members of Congress are forced to cover those costs themselves. “That needs to stop,” she said.
Greene and others are asking congressional leadership to expand protections. While Congress controls its own security budget, the president must still sign any funding increases into law.
The Capitol Police has requested $967.8 million for fiscal 2026, a 22% increase over its fiscal 2024 budget, and growing pressure from lawmakers could soon push that figure above $1 billion for the first time.
“The violence and threats against elected officials, including people in the Senate, have drastically increased,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said following a classified briefing on member security in June. “That means we need more protection. We need more money.”
ONE YEAR ON, BUTLER RALLY ATTENDEES SAY ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT TRANSFORMED TRUMP INTO A WARRIOR
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and Rep. Joe Morelle (D-NY) called on House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) to raise lawmakers’ office budgets to help “support enhanced safety and security measures” in a letter sent following the shootings in Minnesota.
Still, Kelly cautioned that no spending can entirely eliminate the risks.
“I don’t care how much funding we put into it. I don’t care how much protection we have, there’s always going to be a danger,” he said.