Threats against members of Congress skyrocketed in 2025
The number of threats made against members of Congress saw a significant increase in 2025 according to a Capitol Police report.
Last year’s spike marked the third consecutive year that the United States Capitol Police (USCP) recorded an increase in “statements, conduct, and communications regarding” made against elected officials.
A USCP report released Tuesday said 14,938 such cases were investigated in 2025. Authorities recorded 8,008 threats in 2023 and 7,501 in 2022. Threats against lawmakers reached 9,625 in 2021 when the U.S. Capitol was stormed by supporters of President Trump in hopes of stopping the certification of the presidential election that he lost to Joe Biden.
This number represents a significant improvement over the 8,613 threats investigated by the USCP’s Threat Assessment Section (TAS) in 2020.
Capitol Police reported that “decreasing violent political rhetoric is one of the best ways to reduce the number of threats across the country.”
The authorities did not provide details on the threats that were made or their targets, only stating that representatives of both political parties are subject to a wide range of intimidation in several forms.
The UCSP report says threats made online by people who believe they have a “false sense of anonymity” have led to more investigations in recent years.
“While security on Capitol grounds has already improved, we have strengthened our partnerships with law enforcement across the country to keep Members of Congress safe while they are away from the Capitol,” said Capitol Police Chief Michael Sullivan. “We want to ensure that agencies have the resources they need to be able to strengthen protection, which is essential to the democratic process. »
The USCP said it has tripled the number of formal agreements reached with local law enforcement in 2025 to protect federal officials in their home districts.
A Pew Research study released in October found that 85% of Americans believe politically inspired violence is increasing. This report indicates that respondents on both sides of the ideological spectrum share this view and blame liberal and conservative extremists equally.
