House Dems Plan to Move January 6 Plaque Amid Control Shift
House Democrats plan to relocate a January 6 memorial plaque after regaining control of the House.
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House Democrats are planning to relocate a memorial plaque honoring law enforcement officers who defended the U.S. Capitol during the January 6, 2021, riot. The move comes as the party prepares to assume control of the House following the November midterm elections.
Plaque Relocation and Dispute
Rep. Joe Morelle (D-NY), the top Democrat on the House Administration Committee, confirmed to Politico that he intends to facilitate the relocation of the plaque when Democrats take over the House in January. The plaque, which honors U.S. Capitol Police officers, D.C. Metropolitan Police officers, and others who responded to the Capitol riot, is currently displayed in a basement hallway on the Senate side of the building.
Morelle is still determining the logistics of moving the plaque, according to Politico. Democrats have sought a more visible location for the memorial following a dispute with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) over its installation. In 2022, the Democrat-controlled Congress passed legislation authorizing the plaque to recognize law enforcement officers and others who “bravely protected and defended this symbol of democracy.”
Installation Delays and Replicas
An estimated 250 law enforcement officers were injured during the January 6 riot, and five officers who were present died in the following days, according to the House select committee that investigated the incident. However, the plaque was not installed by the March 15, 2023, deadline established by Congress, prompting criticism from Democrats.
Johnson told the Associated Press in January 2026 the legislation authorizing the plaque was “not implementable.” Days later, the Senate unanimously approved a measure requiring the plaque to be displayed on its side of the Capitol. The memorial was subsequently installed in March 2026 in a basement hallway overlooking the Capitol’s West Front, where some of the most intense confrontations between rioters and law enforcement officers occurred.
Replicas and Democratic Response
The dispute over the plaque’s installation prompted House Democrats to display replicas outside their congressional offices in June 2025 in response to Johnson’s refusal to install the original. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) joined other House Democrats in encouraging lawmakers to display reproductions of the memorial until the official plaque was installed. He argued that the plaque recognized officers who protected lawmakers and then-Vice President Mike Pence during the riot.
As Democrats regained control of the House in the November midterm elections, the renewed effort to relocate the plaque has gained momentum. House Democrat Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) emphasized affordability as his party’s governing priority during a November 4 CNN interview, declaring, “We ran on affordability. We won decisively on affordability,” while also asserting a constitutional responsibility to “serve as a check and balance” on the Trump administration.
Source: Breitbart
