--- title: Lawmakers Seek $88 Million for Security After Kirk Killing description: The White House and House Republicans are seeking $88 million in funding to protect Supreme Court justices and members of Congress. canonical: https://time.com/7317977/charlie-kirk-security-congress-supreme-court/ author: Connor Greene article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-09-17T15:32:14.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:50:08.318Z article:section: Politics og:title: Lawmakers Seek $88 Million for Security After Kirk Killing og:description: The White House and House Republicans are seeking $88 million to protect Supreme Court justices and members of Congress. og:url: https://time.com/7317977/charlie-kirk-security-congress-supreme-court/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltedd5e8abe2b83ec4/698a3f3709208f253941a95f/GettyImages-1572489858.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: US-POLITICS-CAPITOL-SHOOTER og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Lawmakers Seek $88 Million for Security After Kirk Killing twitter:description: The White House and House Republicans are seeking $88 million to protect Supreme Court justices and members of Congress. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltedd5e8abe2b83ec4/698a3f3709208f253941a95f/GettyImages-1572489858.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # White House and Congress Seek $88 million for Extra Security in Wake of Charlie Kirk Killing > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: Prosecutors Reveal Texts Sent By Suspect in Charlie Kirk Killing Hours After Fatal Shot [Watch (HLS stream): Prosecutors Reveal Texts Sent By Suspect in Charlie Kirk Killing Hours After Fatal Shot](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/jKMKF7ek.m3u8) (4:52)  _Published 2025-09-16. Tyler Robinson has been charged with the aggravated murder of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, prosecutors announced on Tuesday, as they revealed text messages he allegedly sent in the aftermath of the shooting admitting his guilt._ by [Connor Greene](https://time.com/author/connor-greene/) ## Connor Greene Editorial Fellow Sep 17, 2025 3:32 PM UTC  A US Capitol police officer stands outside the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington, DC, on August 2, 2023, after unconfirmed reports of an active shooter in the building near the US Capitol. A US Capitol police officer stands outside the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington, DC, on August 2, 2023, after unconfirmed reports of an active shooter in the building near the US Capitol. Saul Loeb—AFP via Getty Images by [Connor Greene](https://time.com/author/connor-greene/) ## Connor Greene Editorial Fellow Sep 17, 2025 3:32 PM UTC The White House and House Republicans are seeking nearly $90 million in funding to protect Supreme Court justices and members of Congress in the wake of the assassination of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk. The killing of the 31-year-old Kirk at a public speaking event last week has stoked safety concerns for both Democrats and Republicans and prompted fears of a spiral of [political violence](https://time.com/7316280/charlie-kirk-dead-political-violence/) in the country. The White House requested $58 million from Congress to approve security for the executive and judicial branches, referencing a surge of threats against public officials following Kirk’s shooting. Meanwhile, House GOP leaders on Wednesday added $30 million in security measures to their proposed budget to fund the federal government through mid-November. **Read More:** [_The Killing of Charlie Kirk and the Political Violence Haunting America_](https://time.com/7316280/charlie-kirk-dead-political-violence/) The White House said the extra money would go to the U.S. Marshals Service to fund increased security costs for protecting Supreme Court justices and executive officials. It said the funding “is necessary due to increased threats against public officials,” and would remain available through September 2027, if approved. The proposed $30 million for Congress would be funneled to security for both members of the House and Senate and is also included in a [stopgap](https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/09/16/congress/top-dems-blast-house-cr-00566731), seven-week spending bill that is facing pushback from Democrats. "The tragedy has also initiated a number of uncomfortable but necessary conversations about important issues like the safety and security of our members," said House Speaker Mike Johnson on Tuesday, in reference to Kirk’s death. Some high-ranking officials have postponed or cancelled events out of fear of political attacks following last week’s shooting. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a progressive Democrat who has faced death threats in the past, told reporters last week she would reschedule a rally in Raleigh, North Carolina. **Read More:** [_Trump Called for a Crackdown on the ‘Radical Left.’ But Right Wing Extremists Are Responsible for More Political Violence_](https://time.com/7317383/political-violence-america-trump-crackdown-right/) Rep. Nancy Mace, who is running for governor in South Carolina, said she was cancelling outdoor and public events for the foreseeable future. “I will have a firearm on my person all the time, and I will have security,” Mace said to the media outside the Capitol. Johnson recently said that Capitol Police have [tracked](https://mikejohnson.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=2669) close to 14,000 threats to federal officials this year, which is up from the roughly 9,000 instances that were [reported](https://www.uscp.gov/media-center/press-releases/uscp-threat-assessment-cases-2024#:~:text=The%20number%20of%20United%20States,usually%20increases%20during%20election%20years.) in 2024. “There are many security measures in place for members of Congress, at their homes, at their offices and when they go about,” Johnson [said](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1esej2Jkhc) to reporters. “But we live in a dangerous society, and it’s difficult to cover even the president of the United States from every angle. The problem, ultimately, at the end of the day, is the human heart, that’s what we got to address.” This year has seen a wave of political violence and threats against federal officials. Democratic Minnesota Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, were killed in a targeted [shooting](https://time.com/7294233/minnesota-lawmakers-melissa-hortman-husband-killed-john-hoffman-wife-shot/) in June. Authorities said they found a “hit list” of dozens of other Democrats the suspect had intended to target next. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s residence was set on [fire](https://time.com/7277727/cody-balmer-arson-suspect-governor-josh-shapiro/) in April while he and his family were inside. A man named Robert Phillip Ivers was [arrested](https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/09/09/minnesota-threat-kill-federal-judges/) in September for a threatening manifesto targeting federal judges. Democratic lawmakers from Texas were [evacuated](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/08/06/texas-lawmakers-potential-bomb-threat-illinois/) from an Illinois hotel after a bomb threat in August. Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania [told](https://x.com/ReedReports/status/1967717254797447395) reporters on Monday that most lawmakers don’t have security. “If someone wanted to kill me it’d be easy,” Fetterman said. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7317977/charlie-kirk-security-congress-supreme-court/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7317977/charlie-kirk-security-congress-supreme-court/"},"headline":"White House and Congress Seek $88 million for Extra Security in Wake of Charlie Kirk Killing","datePublished":"2025-09-17T15:32:14.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:50:08.318Z","description":"The White House and House Republicans are seeking $88 million in funding to protect Supreme Court justices and members of Congress.","url":"https://time.com/7317977/charlie-kirk-security-congress-supreme-court/","keywords":["republicans","News Desk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltedd5e8abe2b83ec4/698a3f3709208f253941a95f/GettyImages-1572489858.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Connor Greene","jobTitle":"Editorial Fellow","url":"https://time.com/author/connor-greene/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltedd5e8abe2b83ec4/698a3f3709208f253941a95f/GettyImages-1572489858.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-POLITICS-CAPITOL-SHOOTER","caption":"US-POLITICS-CAPITOL-SHOOTER","creditText":"Saul Loeb—AFP via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/republicans/","name":"republicans"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/7317977/charlie-kirk-security-congress-supreme-court/","name":"White House and Congress Seek $88 million for Extra Security in Wake of Charlie Kirk Killing"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Prosecutors Reveal Texts Sent By Suspect in Charlie Kirk Killing Hours After Fatal Shot","description":"Tyler Robinson has been charged with the aggravated murder of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, prosecutors announced on Tuesday, as they revealed text messages he allegedly sent in the aftermath of the shooting admitting his guilt.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/jKMKF7ek/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2025-09-16T20:48:48.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/jKMKF7ek.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/7317977/charlie-kirk-security-congress-supreme-court/","duration":"PT4M52S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/7317977/charlie-kirk-security-congress-supreme-court/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```