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The Secret Service is currently protecting 40 people as officials and politicians on both sides of the aisle call for more funding to help the agency carry out its duties.
The agency’s protective responsibility has grown this campaign season, NBC reports, in the wake of two assassination attempts on former president Donald Trump.
Among those with protective details are president Joe Biden, vice president Kamala Harris and their families; former presidents and first ladies; running mates and their families; and other people deemed to qualify based on threat levels, the outlet reported.
It comes after two separate incidents in which would-be assassins have been stopped by the Secret Service.
The first was on July 13 in Butler Pennsylvania, when 20-year-old Thomas Crooks clipped Trump’s ear at a rally. The second occurred on Sunday at the former president’s West Palm Beach golf resort in Florida.
Since the first attempt revised assessments have been made for all those under protection, a security official told NBC.
Calls have been made by the president among others to provide the Secret Service with “more help” as they condemned political violence.
“Thank God the president is okay,” Biden told reporters on Monday. “But one thing I want to make clear — the Service needs more help…. Congress should respond to their needs if they in fact need more service people.”
His calls have been echoed by politicians in both the Democratic and Republican parties, including Senate Leader Chuck Schumer, who has said he would be open to putting more funding for the agency in the government funding package.
“Congress has a responsibility to ensure the Secret Service and all law enforcement have the resources they need to do their jobs,” Schumer said.
“Something’s gotta change here because [Trump] clearly is at risk,” added Republican Senator Rick Scott, of Florida.
Last year a report by the Partnership for Public Service ranked the best places to work in the federal government, placing the Secret Service 413th out of 459 agencies.
In 2021, the National Academy of Public Administration released a report on the Secret Service that found the agency was stretched too thin to operate effectively, with agents working long hours and many leaving the agency.
“Attrition fluctuates but remains high and steady, placing additional demands on the already understaffed Division,” the report read.
