The office of Kevin McCarthy, the speaker of the House, was stormed by protesters rallying for HIV/Aids funding on Monday.

Videos of the same went viral on social media where demonstrators were seen sitting and chanting in McCarthy’s office. Protesters wearing rainbow-colored t-shirts demanded the Republican leader reauthorize key provisions of Pepfar, which are set to expire at the end of the month unless a deal is struck.

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Many on social media also equated the incident to the infamous Capitol riots, also known as the January 6 insurrection where a large mob stormed the Congressional building demanding the overturning of the 2020 election results.

Capitol police handcuffed six activists and escorted them away from McCarthy’s Washington DC office. Politico reporter Alice Ollstein shared videos from the scene at the Rayburn House office building.

Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (Pepfar) is a widely bipartisan program and has been reauthorized three times. President Joe Biden indicated earlier this year that he would work with Congress to extend a fourth time. However, since then, the program’s latest extension has been caught up in a partisan fight over abortion.

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At present, it is under threat amid ongoing negotiations over a government shutdown. Some Republicans are opposed to Pepfar’s reauthorization. They have argued that current restrictions do not sufficiently prevent the funds from being used to support abortions.

The program was first established in 2003 by President George W Bush to prevent and treat HIV/Aids.