Capitol Hill was located in Washington, District of Columbia. It was home to the most famous landmark on the National Mall—the US Capitol Building, that white building with a dome and Roman columns so often seen in movies and television. As the name implied, it was where US Congress convened; that round chamber still frequently seen on screen was the House of Representatives' meeting hall.
By coincidence, the period around Christmas every year was when electoral votes from each state were submitted. Congress needed to tally and confirm them to determine the next president. As such, Congress was extremely busy during this period—this was their prime time to exercise power, and hardly anyone would be absent.
This time, they were especially complete in attendance. Because the alien arrival incident had affected the Electoral College vote and caused disputes over the count, every member of Congress was seated in the House chamber, discussing the matter. Just as the debate reached its peak, the ground suddenly began to tremble slightly. When they looked outside again, the view beyond the windows was no longer the National Mall, but the bustling scenery of Metropolis Plaza.
That alone would have been one thing, but countless police officers and soldiers had followed Superman here: MPD (Metropolis Police Department), FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation), HSI (Homeland Security Investigations), NG (National Guard), USMC (United States Marine Corps), USAF (US Air Force), and a whole array of armed forces had all arrived. Other than during year-end budget requests, there was practically no occasion when all these units could be gathered together; even for extremely important strike operations, only one or two of them usually appeared.
These forces were fully equipped. Each person carried far more than one gun. They had every kind of counterterrorism equipment, all loaded and ready