House appropriators released their committee report Wednesday for the Legislative Branch funding bill, which includes detailed guidance on how they’d like Capitol Hill offices and agencies to spend fiscal 2026 funding. Here’s a sampling of what’s on their minds ahead of Thursday’s full-committee markup:
Member security: The report instructs the security agencies under congressional purview, including Capitol Police, to direct patrols to buildings and locations “where the Members tend to congregate” and to educate members on how to stay safe while outside the Capitol complex.
“The Committee is concerned about the current level of security measures across the Capitol campus, particularly when Members of Congress are travelling across the Capitol Plaza to vote,” reads the 38-page report.
The report also includes notice that Congress will not continue funding a Capitol Police pilot program of field offices across the country tasked with investigating threats against lawmakers, saying “there has been insufficient return on investment for this program.”
Road safety: Lawmakers want more designated parking spaces for expectant mothers and a crossing guard for busy Independence Avenue. The report recommends that the Capitol Police Board “review the current motorized device policy” due to “continued interest of members, staff, and visitors” in electric scooter use on the Capitol campus.
Food: “The committee underscores the importance of providing an accessible workplace for those with food allergies and celiac disease,” says the report. It instructs the House Chief Administrative Officer to prioritize working with campus food service providers “to ensure that food is available, prepared, stored, and labeled appropriately.”
Company cars: Appropriators raised questions about the number of Capitol Police employees who have take-home vehicles provided by the department. The panel “fails to see any value in home-to-work vehicles for civilian employees and expects to see a responsible reduction in the number of all home-to-work vehicles.”
Elevators: The panel raises concerns about “the increased regularity of elevator outages in the House Office Buildings.”
Dome tours: The coveted tours all the way to the top of the Capitol Dome are hard to come by and can only be scheduled by lawmakers. “It has become increasingly challenging for Member offices to reserve a Dome tour,” the panel complains.
Nicholas Wu contributed to this report.
