The House offices buildings and galleries in the U.S. Capitol Building are set to reopen to the public on Tuesday after nearly three years.
The reopening was announced in an internal memo from the House sergeant-at-arms, obtained by the Hill. The Capitol office buildings and galleries were closed along with the whole Capitol in March 2020 due to pandemic restrictions. The Capitol began to reopen gradually last year, with the first phase of openings occurring in March of last year with limited tours of areas of the building, the Hill reported. The rest of the Capitol is expected to reopen this year.
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Days after Republicans won control of the House, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) began pushing for the whole opening of the building by Jan. 3.
“[The] American People have been restricted from exercising their constitutional right to petition the first branch of government,” he wrote to several U.S. Capitol police officials. He added that the closure involved “973 days without being able to freely visit their Member of Congress at the Capitol Complex” or to “access the House gallery and watch their representatives vote on legislation in person.”
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Authorities weren’t able to comply with McCarthy’s request fully, as the Capitol Visitor Center isn’t expected to open fully until March.
