WASHINGTON – The U.S. Capitol Police Chief testified Tuesday that President Donald Trump’s decision to forgive those convicted of assaulting police officers on January 6, 2021 had a negative impact on morale on police across departments and across the country.
“I think it had a national impact when you look at people who are pardoned, not just the Capitol police, and I’m really referring to those convicted of assaulting police officers,” J. Thomas Manor said at a hearing on the department’s budget request.
“That’s what bothered most officers, and I think it certainly had an impact on the USCP,” Manger added. “We have had as many changes as the executives have experienced over the past four years, so I am trying to keep them focused on moving forward, but that certainly had a negative impact.
On the first day of Trump’s appointment, He forgives nearly 1,500 people Although convicted of a crime related to attacking the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, members of Congress went through a process to prove that President Joe Biden won the election college vote.
Many of those people went to the Capitol after attending a rally near the White House. There, he repeated false claims that Trump won the 2020 presidential election despite the lack of evidence of many failed lawsuits and voter fraud.
Manger testified before the House Appropriations Legislative Branch Subcommittee Hearing The department has made many improvements since the attack, but it will require a budget request of around $1 billion to hire more executives and continue to update its equipment.
“We recognize that there are other similarly sized police stations whose budgets aren’t as big as ours, but we’re not just ordinary law enforcement,” Manger said. “USCP is different from traditional police stations. In fact, our mission incorporates elements similar to the FBI, the US Secret Service and the Federal Protection Services.”
In the four years since the January 6 attack, the USCP made significant changes to how it works, with many of its “mission requirements simply not existing four years ago.”
Last updated at 12:50pm, April 8, 2025
