(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Failing to secure nearby rooftops, letting the alleged shooter roam free for more than an hour, and waiting 15 seconds before returning fire are just a few of the Secret Service’s egregious security failures from the July 13 assassination attempt on presidential frontrunner Donald Trump.
Meanwhile, the Secret Service has yet to provide Congress with crucial information about the event, including its operations plan for that day.
So what’s Congress’s response to the Secret Service’s ineptitude and lack of transparency? Apparently, lawmakers want to give the agency a raise.
Congress looks willing to give the Secret Service a raise after the agency nearly got Donald Trump killed. pic.twitter.com/8JgeE97QZS
— Ken Silva (@JD_Cashless) August 1, 2024
In a Wednesday letter to Secret Service Acting Director Ronald Rowe, Sens. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., and Katie Britt, R-Ala., signaled their intent to give the agency a budget boost.
“Following the assassination attempt on former President Trump, President Biden announced that Secret Service protection will also be provided to presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Two vice presidential candidates will now also require protection. As a result, the Secret Service is assuming new protection costs related to the campaign at a time when it already appears to lack sufficient resources to fulfill its protective mission,” the senators said in their letter.
The senators also signaled their intent to give the Secret Service a raise in their questions to Rowe. One of the questions, for instance, asked whether Rowe believes his agency needs additional resources beyond its 2025 budget request.
There’s no evidence that the Secret Service’s security failures have anything to do with the agency’s budget.
As noted by reporter Ken Klippenstein, the agency’s budget has almost doubled over the past decade.
Nearly a month since the near-miss attempt on Trump's life and it looks like Congress has finally decided who to punish: the taxpayer.https://t.co/2D8kHOF6Sa
— Ken Klippenstein 📎 (@kenklippenstein) August 1, 2024
Sens. Murphy and Britt also acknowledged that Congress provided more than $190 million to the Secret Service this year, specifically for protection requirements related to the 2024 presidential campaign, plus an additional $22 million above President Biden’s budget request for protection-related travel costs.
The senators asked Rowe for “prompt responses” about his budgetary needs.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
