EXCLUSIVE: US Capitol to Reopen Galleries to Public After Over 2 Years

The House and Senate Galleries, where the public can view legislative proceedings, have been closed since the COVID-19 pandemic began but The Epoch Times has learned exclusively that the galleries will finally be reopened to visitors.

“We are in the process of reopening them in September,” a spokesman for the U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) told The Epoch Times via email.

The spokesman said that COVID-19 caused the initial shutdown and that the galleries have remained closed because of USCP staffing shortages.

COVID-19 Shutdown

Currently, the public can get tours of the building through the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center or their representatives’ offices but are blocked by ropes from going near the House and Senate chambers. The galleries of the Senate and the House of Representatives are the balcony seats above the floor where the public, media, and visitors can watch the proceedings when either body is in session.

The entire U.S. Capitol building was shut down to the public on March 12, 2020, over COVID-19 and stayed closed for the longest time in American history. The building only reopened to visitors on May 30. The shutdown dragged on because of both political debate on COVID-19 measures and staffing shortages with the Capitol Police. The galleries were supposed to be reopened in May, according to a USCP plan in March obtained by CQ Roll Call.

The more than two-year closure is unprecedented in American history. The Capitol had only been previously closed briefly three times since the beginning of the 20th century. The public galleries were closed for a month in the fall of 1918 during the Spanish flu pandemic, according to House historical documents. The Capitol was also briefly closed after the assassination of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., and after the Sept. 11 and anthrax attacks in 2001.

Capitol Police

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