What security upgrades were funded after Jan. 6 and how much did each measure cost?
Executive summary
Congress moved quickly after Jan. 6 to pour roughly $1.9–$2.1 billion into Capitol-related security: the House-passed emergency supplemental totaled $1.9 billion [1], and the final enacted package was reported at about $2.1 billion [2]. That money was carved into line items for hardened windows and doors, cameras, equipment and trauma support for officers, reimbursements for National Guard and local responders, new rapid-reaction capability funding, and smaller sums for related federal agencies and prosecutions [3] [4] [2].
1. Top-line totals and how to read them
The legislation originated as a roughly $1.9 billion House supplemental to address immediate costs and upgrades tied to the Jan. 6 attack [5] [1], and reporting on the final congressional package places the enacted total near $2.1 billion once additional items — including visa and other non-security provisions — are counted [2]. Analysts and outlets parsed that total differently because the bill combined retrospective reimbursements for costs already incurred with forward-looking capital and operating security investments; roughly $700 million of the early House package went to reimburse agencies and jurisdictions for past response costs [6].
2. Hardening the campus: windows, doors and cameras — the biggest single investments
Upgrades to the physical fabric of the Capitol complex — stronger windows and doors and expanded camera systems — were among the largest individual buckets, but exact amounts vary across sources: Roll Call described $162.7 million earmarked to upgrade windows and doors across the Capitol and office buildings [4], while Courthouse News and other reporting cited a combined roughly $300 million for windows/doors plus $17 million for new cameras [2], and some summaries in bill text and tracking lists show similar but not identical tallies [3]. Those discrepancies reflect evolving drafts, agency requests and final allocations; every source agrees that fortifying entry points and increasing surveillance were major appropriations [3] [4] [2].
3. Personnel, overtime, equipment and trauma support for Capitol Police
The U.S. Capitol Police received a focused package: the House summary identified $43.9 million to respond to Jan. 6, including $31.1 million intended to backfill overtime while hiring and training more officers, plus smaller amounts for gas masks, tactical vests and riot-control equipment and trauma/wellness services (including $1.3 million for protective gear, $2.6 million for riot equipment and $4.4 million for wellness in the summary) [5] [3]. Subsequent reporting also highlights expanded and ongoing annual funding increases in later appropriations cycles — for example, broader FY2026 funding and chamber security expansions were reported as much larger sums, underscoring that the Jan. 6 supplement was only the opening investment in an expanding security budget [7].
4. National Guard, quick-reaction forces and reimbursements to responders
A large share reimbursed the National Guard and other agencies for deployment costs: the bill included roughly $520–521 million to cover National Guard costs tied to January deployments and related readiness impacts [5] [3] [2]. The text and subsequent commentary also funded the creation or resourcing of a quick-reaction force tied to the D.C. National Guard — reporting identified about $200 million targeted for that purpose — reflecting a political choice to create a standing surge capacity that critics said should be balanced with reforms in civilian coordination and oversight [6].
5. Smaller but consequential line items: sergeants-at-arms, prosecutors and federal agencies
Other allocations included $21.5 million for the House sergeant-at-arms and $16.5 million for the Senate sergeant-at-arms to respond to the attack [4], about $39.5 million to continue prosecutions of Jan. 6 defendants [4], and smaller appropriations such as $1 million for U.S. Marshals activities and roughly $500,800 for expanded trauma counseling through the Office of Employee Assistance [3]. The package also directed funds to the Architect of the Capitol to backfill prior accounts and to the GSA, Secret Service and judiciary-security enhancements at various scales [3] [4].
6. Discrepancies, politics and what the numbers don’t tell
The reporting record contains divergent line-item figures — for example, multiple figures for windows/doors and camera spending appear in Roll Call, Courthouse News and House summaries [4] [2] [3] — because drafts changed, agencies revised requests, and some outlets aggregated front-line reimbursements with future capital spending differently; politics shaped both what was funded and how it was described, with Democrats pushing rapid hardening and some Republicans arguing over scope and oversight [6]. Reporting captures the dollar flows, but not all outcomes: several sources note debate over whether added funds fixed coordination and intelligence failures that precipitated Jan. 6, a substantive point of disagreement raised by lawmakers and witnesses [1] [6].