As they go unpaid, Capitol Police are a daily reminder for lawmakers of shutdown pain

Most of the effects of the ongoing government shutdown are far-removed from the halls of Congress.

But the situation facing one group of federal employees who are working without pay is difficult for lawmakers to overlook: The Capitol Police officers who protect them every day.

The officers missed their first full paycheck Oct. 10th.

“They’re asked to be everything to everybody,” said Terry Gainer, a former Capitol Police chief. “You need to be ready at the drop of a hat to take very aggressive enforcement action, but you also have to be a person who will welcome visitors and be a tour guide.”

Gainer says the job is tougher than ever, as public officials face growing threats and violence.

Gesturing toward two officers guarding the ornate Senate Reception Room, Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., says she feels for the force’s more than 2,000 officers and that Democrats are to blame for the impasse.

“These men and women are paying the price,” Britt said. “It’s absolutely selfish and ridiculous. It’s heartbreaking. People have mortgages, they have families.”

Officer Gus Papathanasiou, the Capitol Police union chair, called on lawmakers last week to end the shutdown, writing in a statement that “Banks and landlords do not give my officers a pass.”

Rep. Joe Morelle, D-N.Y., who sits on the House committee that oversees the force, says he has kept in touch with Papathanasiou and Capitol Police Chief Michael Sullivan.

“What I find really strange is that there doesn’t seem to be any negotiation going on at all and yet we’re walking among people who are directly impacted by this,” Morelle said.

The Trump administration has signaled plans to repurpose funds to pay federal law enforcement during the shutdown, though Democrats have questioned the legality of the moves.

“I’m not unhappy with that result if it’s the case,” Morelle said. “But I’m still mindful of the fact that what the president is talking about, whether it’s military troops or law enforcement, it’s patently illegal,” he said.

Morelle says the missed checks are not the only slight, saying officers felt stung when some GOP lawmakers did not oppose President Trump’s pardons of rioters who attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6th. He notes a Jan. 6 memorial plaque honoring officers who defended the Capitol is still uninstalled on Capitol Hill, despite a federally-mandated deadline.

“We’ve always stood with Capitol police and law enforcement and we’ve shown that in word and deed,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters last week.

“All of a sudden after all of these issues where they have been frankly insulting to members of the Capitol Police, now they’re going to say, ‘Oh well, we really care about them,” Morelle said.

Gainer, the former Capitol Police chief, said officers continue to do their jobs with professionalism, but each slight makes it more difficult to convince them that the long hours and personal risk are worth staying for.

Last week, Rep. Nanette Barragán, D-Calif., briefly clashed with an officer during a protest, prompting the Capitol Police union to demand an apology. Barragán said the officer grabbed her as she tried to enter Johnson’s office.

“One of the skill sets we require of police officers is your ability to remember, because you’re good witnesses,” Gainer said. “So your memory doesn’t get erased, but what you try to do is reset the clock.”

Asked this week whether they were holding up during the shutdown, a group of officers said they were — “for now.”

But one officer had an addendum to that assessment.

“Give it a month, maybe not,” he said.