Chief J. Thomas Manger will retire from the U.S. Capitol Police on May 2, his office announced Tuesday.
Manger took over the Hill’s police force in 2021 in the wake of the Jan. 6 attack that saw the Capitol breached by rioting supporters of President Donald Trump, who falsely claimed to have won the 2020 election.
After a national search, the Capitol Police Board picked Manger in July of that year to head the struggling agency after leading police departments in the Washington suburbs. Manger inherited a short-staffed force that was demoralized after the attacks and burnt out from mandatory overtime.
In his four years leading the Capitol Police, Manger oversaw large increases in its budget, increased hiring and closed out all 103 of the post-Jan 6. recommendations made by the department’s inspector general. The recommendations ranged from better communications between officers to overhauled procedures for special events. Congress also empowered the Capitol Police chief to request National Guard assistance without pre-approval during Manger’s tenure.
The department has added about 350 more sworn officers since the Jan. 6 attack, Manger told lawmakers at an oversight hearing in December. Manger also led efforts within the department to centralize intelligence gathering and protective operations.
During his tenure, threats made against lawmakers continued to flood the Hill. In 2024, the Capitol Police investigated 9,474 concerning statements and direct threats against members of Congress, their families and staff.
The department also took steps toward increased transparency under Manger by slowly making Capitol Police inspector general reporters publicly available.
Manger’s four years on the Hill weren’t without incident. In January, a man managed to slip a handgun past security while on a Capitol tour. The incident provoked bipartisan condemnation from House Administration Chair Bryan Steil, R-Wis., and ranking member Joseph D. Morelle, D-N.Y.
“The USCP has requested a nearly $1 billion budget from Congress for their operations, which includes extraneous items that miss the mark in terms of their number one priority, keeping the U.S. Capitol and all who visit and work here safe,” the pair said in a joint statement at the time.
It will now be up to the three-member Capitol Police Board — the House and Senate sergeants-at-arms, as well as the Architect of the Capitol — to select a new chief.
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