U.S. Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger claimed on Wednesday that staffing shortages in the agency prevent the general population from full access to the Capitol building, which began phased reopening earlier this week, The Hill reported.
Manger suggested to Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Wash., during a House Appropriations Subcommittee hearing that the existence of new positions is the reason for the shortage.
"We don't have the staffing to be at all the posts where we were pre-pandemic. One of the reasons is we have more posts now than we had pre-pandemic because of a number of issues. We are staffing posts that didn't exist two, three years ago," he said.
The police chief, who took credit for the idea of a phased reopening process, referred to the agency as the "choke point" preventing full access to the building due to their staffing issues.
"As we have the staffing, we're going to — we want this facility opened as much as anybody, and I regret that we're the choke point, we're the problem, in terms of getting it reopened fully," Manger said.
"But I do think everybody's onboard that they want to make sure that the safety and security of this campus is what it should be as we reopen," he added.
The Capitol has gone through several closures to the public amid the ongoing pandemic and since the riot in and outside the building on Jan. 6 last year. The most recent restrictions are responses to emergent COVID variants and anti-mandate convoy protests.
The first phase of the reopening plan revealed on Monday allows for school group visits and permits a limited number of tours. The second phase will include a limited reopening of the Capitol Visitor Center and will begin in late May, according to The New York Times.
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