Capitol to Reopen This Month if Bipartisan Effort Passes

The United States Capitol will reopen this month after being closed for more than two years, so long as a pending plan is adopted in response to bipartisan pressure, the New York Post reported. If the plan is adopted, the Capitol will reopen on March 28.

"It has been 719 days since [House] Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi closed the People's House to the public. This far exceeds the amount of time of any prior closure over the course of the Capitol's more than 200-year history," Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y. said in a March 3 statement.

Many Democrats have also called for the Capitol's reopening.

"I'd like to see the Capitol open safely to tourists again," Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., stated. "A lot of my constituents are asking about visiting, and I think they should be able to visit again."

Additionally, Democrat Eleanor Holmes Norton, DC's non-voting House delegate, said last week that "it is time that the U.S. Capitol open once again to visitors. Given the importance of the Capitol to D.C.'s tourist economy, it is time for the Capitol, like the rest of D.C. is already doing, to reopen to visitors."

Despite the bipartisan push among members of Congress to open the Capitol, according to Fox News' Chad Pergram's Twitter, the U.S. Capitol Police department would still have to approve a reopening plan.

While Congress has already approved $2.1 billion in funding to boost security at the Capitol, Capitol Police Chief Thomas Manger said in Jan.  that "we've got a ways to go before we can reopen the campus."

Manger adds that "staffing is the biggest issue. We are around 440-50 officers below where we need to be to be able to do the workload that we have responsibility for."

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