Saturday night's shooting at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner exposed a stark vulnerability in how Congress protects its own, with rank-and-file lawmakers discovering they were largely on their own when chaos erupted inside the ballroom.
Unlike members of leadership, who immediately evacuated under 24/7 Capitol Police protection, the majority of the more than 500 House and Senate members in attendance found themselves locked inside with thousands of other guests. When Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., realized he had no protection detail, he asked House Majority Leader Steve Scalise if he could leave with him. Scalise, a Louisiana Republican who survived an assassination attempt at a 2017 congressional baseball game, agreed without hesitation.
"I grabbed him and said to stay close, and we got out of there," Scalise recalled.
Not all members were so fortunate. One House Republican lawmaker said he called Speaker Mike Johnson for guidance only to be told the speaker had already evacuated. When he asked a Secret Service agent what to do, he was told to leave the hotel with everyone else, so he and his wife walked home.
An announcement for members of Congress to gather at center stage came only after most had already departed. Capitol Police eventually provided transportation for those who remained, but the chaotic evacuation underscored what many lawmakers view as an unacceptable gap in emergency protocols.
The House Republican who left on foot said he was struck by the absence of any advance security plan despite the large congressional contingent. Capitol Police had not compiled a list of attending lawmakers ahead of time, and he was never contacted before an evening statement claiming all members were "accounted for." When he called the sergeant-at-arms the next day to voice his concerns, he found himself among several lawmakers calling for a security reckoning.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., who faces elevated threats due to her public profile, spoke plainly about her ongoing sense of vulnerability. "I've never felt safe. I never have," she told reporters, pointing to resource constraints that leave many members unprotected. "It's a really dire and desperate state that we're in as a country."
The timing of the dinner shooting coincides with record-high threats against lawmakers. The U.S. Capitol Police investigated 14,938 threatening cases last year targeting members of Congress, their families, and staff, the highest number since the agency began tracking such incidents. Anti-government violence stands at a 30-year peak, adding weight to calls for immediate action.
Moskowitz noted an uncomfortable reality: rank-and-file members operate without protective details either in their home districts or in Washington, making them what he called "sitting ducks." After authorities in Florida foiled a plot to assassinate him, he began using monthly security allowances for round-the-clock protection at his home, but acknowledged that such measures can only go so far.
Congress has made some effort to address security gaps. Senators secured $75 million in funding through a 2026 appropriations bill for member security, granting each of the 100 senators $750,000 for protection. House members can access up to $20,000 per month through the sergeant-at-arms, totaling $240,000 annually per member, funds that can be used in home districts, Washington, or while traveling.
Yet Moskowitz struck a sobering note about the fundamental calculus of security. "We have to get it right every time, right? They only have to get it right once," he said, referring to potential threats. "At some point in time, someone's going to harm somebody in this building or somewhere else."
Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., offered an equally stark view. "It's dangerous," he said flatly. "I expect that'll stay the same till somebody gets killed, and then it'll change."
The dinner was not designated a National Special Security Event, a higher-tier designation from the Department of Homeland Security typically reserved for presidential inaugurations and State of the Union addresses. The Secret Service took the lead on event security, but the Saturday night shooting demonstrated that standard protocols may be insufficient for protecting such large gatherings of high-profile political figures.
Author Sarah Mitchell: "The dinner exposed a dangerous assumption that leadership security automatically extends to everyone in the room, when the reality is hundreds of lawmakers were essentially unaccounted for in a crisis. Until Congress treats rank-and-file member security with the same urgency it affords the leadership class, nothing will fundamentally change."
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