Threats against members of Congress, their families, staff, and the U.S. Capitol complex surged in 2025, with the U.S. Capitol Police reporting more than 5,000 additional incidents compared with the previous year.
According to a Capitol Police news release Tuesday, the agency's Threat Assessment Section investigated 14,938 "concerning" statements, behaviors, and communications in 2025.
That marks a sharp rise from 9,474 threats investigated in 2024 and represents the third consecutive year of increases.
The threats range from hostile social media posts to more direct targeting of lawmakers, underscoring growing security concerns amid heightened political tensions nationwide.
Capitol Police Chief Michael Sullivan said the department has been expanding coordination with law enforcement agencies across the country to help protect members of Congress, particularly when they are outside Washington.
"We want to make sure agencies have the resources they need to be able to enhance protection, which is critical to the democratic process," Sullivan said.
The report was released hours before Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., was sprayed with an unidentified liquid during a town hall she was holding Tuesday in Minneapolis.
The findings also come amid a series of high-profile political violence incidents nationwide over the past 18 months.
These include the killing of conservative leader Charlie Kirk during a college campus event, the shooting of two Minnesota state lawmakers last summer that left one dead, and an arson attack on the Pennsylvania governor's mansion while Gov. Josh Shapiro and his family were inside.
During the 2024 presidential campaign, President Donald Trump was shot at a political rally in an attempted assassination.
Capitol Police said reducing violent political rhetoric is one of the most effective ways to address the rising number of threats, a call echoed by lawmakers from both parties following incidents of violence.
The department has also expanded its Protective and Intelligence Operations Center, launched in 2024, which operates around the clock to process and assess threats against lawmakers in coordination with the House and Senate sergeants-at-arms.
"We, and both sergeants-at-arms, are seeing an increase of reporting through our outreach efforts with the congressional community," said Jeanita Mitchell, acting assistant chief of police for Protective and Intelligence Operations.
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