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NEW DATA: Oxford Economics finds Durbin-Marshall Credit Card Mandates would hurt local economies, costing $227 billion and 156,000 jobs across the country.
BY JOHN BRESNAHAN, ANNA PALMER, JAKE SHERMAN AND HEATHER CAYGLE
WITH MAX COHEN AND CHRISTIAN HALL

NEWS: We got our hands on the plan to reopen the Capitol.
The Capitol will open in three phases beginning March 28, according to sources involved in the discussions. Beginning two weeks from today, Capitol authorities will boost the “official visitor” limit to 15 from the current nine. Staff-led tours can resume that day as well, with a limit of 15 people per tour. Also on March 28, school groups will be allowed back in the Capitol Monday through Friday, likely using a lottery system. Capitol tour guides – internally called “red coats” – will be available for two tours per hour for school children. These tours will be limited to 50 students for a total of eight tours per day.
The second phase starts May 30 with a limited reopening of the Capitol Visitor Center. The details of what exactly this will look like are still being worked out.
And a full reopening of the Capitol – back to the pre-pandemic normal we haven’t seen for two years – is expected around Labor Day. This date was described to us as “highly tentative” but it’s what those involved in the planning process are targeting. Senior officials from the House and Senate leadership, key committees involved in the planning, U.S. Capitol Police and the House and Senate sergeants at arms offices held a call today to strategize about how to reopen the building.
The major issue for meeting these goals – and the primary reason why the reopening is happening in phases – comes down to staffing. The U.S. Capitol Police have roughly 10 percent fewer uniformed officers than when the pandemic began in 2020.
USCP is short hundreds of officers. The reason for the shortage is twofold: The training academy was closed during the pandemic and hundreds of officers left the force following the Jan. 6 insurrection.
Congressional leadership, senior aides and USCP have to work together to find a way to reopen the Capitol safely while managing those staffing shortages. The USCP is stepping up its recruiting efforts to address the shortfall, including welcoming a new class just last week. The USCP is aiming to hire more than 200 additional officers. The force is roughly 200 officers short of its authorized officer staffing level.
All of this is a big deal. Congressional leaders were hesitant to shutter the Capitol at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, worried about the message it would send to the country. Since then, House and Senate leaders have faced both internal and external pressure to find a way to reopen the Capitol to business visitors and tour groups alike. Republicans are pressing very hard on this issue.
However, this is a bicameral decision and requires coordination between many different offices and stakeholders.
Here’s a statement from the USCP: “We understand the importance of people’s access to their government, so we are working closely with the Capitol Police Board and its oversight committees to come up with a safe plan to reopen the U.S. Capitol and realign resources based on current operational requirements. We promise to keep the community updated when decisions are made.”
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Editorial photo provided by Getty Images

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Presented by The Electronic Payments Coalition
NEW DATA: Oxford Economics finds Durbin-Marshall Credit Card Mandates would hurt local economies, costing $227 billion and 156,000 jobs across the country.