Congress is moving to raise the retirement age for U.S. Capitol Police officers as the department struggles with staffing shortages, overtime demands, and an increase in threats against lawmakers.The Senate unanimously passed bipartisan legislation Thursday that would allow Capitol Police officers to continue serving until age 62. A separate bill passed earlier this year by the House would allow officers to serve until age 65.Current law permits officers who receive waivers to continue working until age 60, despite the standard mandatory retirement age of 57 or after 20 years of service, whichever comes later.
The Senate bill was introduced by Sens. Alex Padilla (D-CA) and Mitch McConnell (R-KY), the top Democrat and Republican on the Senate Rules Committee, which oversees the Capitol Police.
Padilla described the proposal as a modest but necessary step as the department faces increasing security demands in the years following the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol attack.
“We simply must continue to increase staffing levels,” Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Sullivan told lawmakers during a recent oversight hearing, warning that heightened security measures and a surge in threats against members of Congress have “overextended the department’s traditional staffing model.”
