House Chamber Getting Kevlar-Reinforced Bulletproof Doors

The House of Representatives is becoming a “massive safe room for members” with the addition of bulletproof doors, according to Axios.

The doors, which will be reinforced with kevlar, are part of a massive security upgrade in response to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, where officers inside the House chamber held protesters at bay by pointing their guns at them after they broke windows in the doors, according to the report.

More via Axios:

An Axios reporter leaving the Capitol on Wednesday night saw workers removing doors on one of the double-doored entrances to the gallery one level above the floor of the chamber. Some members huddled there on Jan. 6.

• Workers revealed the new doors being installed would be fortified with kevlar — the same synthetic material used in bulletproof vests and military helmets.

• The House currently is on recess for two more weeks, and the workers said the modifications will continue beyond the members’ return. There are five sets of doors directly onto the floor and 15 into the gallery.

• No other details were immediately available from the Architect of the Capitol, which maintains the historic building.

The bulletproof doors were included as part of a series of recommendations by Retired Army Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré, who House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tasked with conducting a post-riot review of Capitol security. Honoré suggested that the Capitol Architect “expedite repair and hardening of vulnerable windows and doors.”