Political Violence Tore Through 2025. Will 2026 Be Any Better?

Former Rep. Annie Kuster has no regrets about leaving Congress nearly a year ago and when she reads about what’s happening in Washington — and the increasing threats targeting her former colleagues — it only confirms that feeling for her.

“It’s gotten quite a bit worse,” she told NOTUS in a phone interview. “I’m frightened. I’m frightened for my colleagues, for the death threats that they continue to get.”

Kuster is no stranger to violence, having been in the House chamber during the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol. She said it’s the reason she ultimately decided to leave Congress when President Donald Trump was reelected.

“I believe that there is a purposeful degrading of our human connections in order to strengthen the MAGA movement, Donald Trump personally, his family, his followers,” Kuster said. “Having said all that, the thing that I quoted most frequently to people when they asked why I left was that he tried to kill me once. I wasn’t available for it again.”

The issue of political violence has been a conversation within the halls of Congress for decades. It’s not new to see a politician targeted for their views in a violent manner. Death threats to members of Congress have increased year after year and lawmakers specifically targeted by Trump typically see a surge in threats as well.

Violent incidents this year, including the assassination of Charlie Kirk and the shooting of Democratic lawmakers in Minnesota that killed state Rep. Melissa Hortman, are never far from lawmakers’ minds.

As members head into the 2026 campaign season, they are also struggling with how to lower the temperatures and ensure members are safe doing their jobs, especially as Trump continually attacks those who oppose him.

Trump has faced political violence with two assassination attempts on his life before he won back the White House. But that hasn’t seemed to stop him from making broad attacks, recently posting on social media that several Democratic lawmakers had engaged in “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!” over a video that encouraged troops to refuse “illegal orders.”

House Oversight Chair James Comer acknowledged that Trump isn’t blameless.

“The one thing that keeps the Democrats United is their hatred of Trump. Trump probably pours fuel on that fire,” Comer told NOTUS. “I think everybody could look in the mirror and try to do a little bit better.”

Comer specifically blamed the hyper-partisan makeup of Congress for how much worse everything has gotten.

There’s no purple districts left. If you’re in a blue district, you’re forced to be more liberal. If you’re in a red district, you’re more conservative. And you know, when there’s an open seat, you’ve got a primary, the biggest flamethrower usually ends up victorious,” he said.

Politicians have a duty to listen to their constituents, he said, if they’re the ones demanding more civility between the parties.

“Politicians respond to the voters, and when the voters start demanding that politicians have more civility by voting for more civil politicians, then I think that everyone will get the hint and react,” Comer added.

At the end of the year, lawmakers on both sides have reflected on what can actually be done to bring down the temperature.

“The violence is a product of the profound political division and the determination some people have to win regardless of the means used,” Rep. Jamie Raskin, top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, told NOTUS. “I can’t quite say I’m surprised. I believe that we are still in the throes of the political fight that took place on Jan. 6. I think there’s a continuing attack on constitutional values and norms taking place.”

Raskin has faced his own threats, with a pardoned Jan. 6 defendant named Taylor Taranto who has shown up near his house in the past. Raskin was in the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, witnessing the attack with his daughter, and subsequently was an impeachment manager for the Democrats against Trump.

“The reality of political violence and violent threats is just something that people in public office deals with these days,” Raskin said. “We all integrate it into our consciousness and daily lives in different ways, but undoubtedly, it has its costs and it adds to the stress of the job.”

When asked what she believed Congress’ role was in bringing down the temperature on political violence, Kuster pointed to four Republicans who joined Democrats on a discharge petition to force a vote that would extend enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies.

She argued that the Republicans’ decision to work on an important issue and cross party lines is a sign things could get better.

“Those four brave Republicans are how it will get better,” Kuster said. “And they were the among the last that I was able to work with when I left, I was entirely bipartisan.”

The fifth anniversary of Jan. 6 is approaching, and lawmakers make clear they have not forgotten what led to that day. Raskin said the way the violence ends is by refusing to escalate it in the first place.

“It’s very important to examine the rhetoric of political leaders in the wake of assassinations and political violence,” Raskin said. “We should all be categorically denouncing assassination and political violence. We should not be ever indulging it or minimizing it simply because it takes place against someone in a different political party.”