WASHINGTON — The Secret Service can no longer pay hundreds of
agents it needs to carry out an expanded protective mission – in
large part due to the sheer size of President Trump's family and
efforts necessary to secure their multiple residences up and down
the East Coast.
Secret Service Director Randolph "Tex" Alles, in an interview
with USA TODAY, said more than 1,000 agents have already hit the
federally mandated caps for salary and overtime allowances that
were meant to last the entire year.
The agency has faced a crushing workload since the height of the
contentious election season, and it has not relented in the first
seven months of the administration. Agents must protect Trump – who
has traveled almost every weekend to his properties in Florida, New
Jersey and Virginia – and his adult children whose business trips
and vacations have taken them across the country and overseas.
"The president has a large family, and our responsibility is
required in law,'' Alles said. "I can't change that. I have no
flexibility.''
Alles said the service is grappling with an unprecedented number
of White House protectees. Under Trump, 42 people have protection,
a number that includes 18 members of his family. That's up from 31
during the Obama administration.
Overwork and constant travel have also been driving a recent
exodus from the Secret Service ranks, yet without congressional
intervention to provide additional funding, Alles will not even be
able to pay agents for the work they have already done.
The compensation crunch is so serious that the director has
begun discussions with key lawmakers to raise the combined salary
and overtime cap for agents, from $160,000 per year to $187,000 for
at least the duration of Trump's first term.
But even if such a proposal was approved, about 130 veteran
agents would not be fully compensated for hundreds of hours already
amassed, according to the agency.
"I don't see this changing in the near term,'' Alles said.
Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers expressed deep concern
for the continuing stress on the agency, first thrust into turmoil
five years ago with disclosures about sexual misconduct by agents
in Colombia and subsequent White House security breaches.
A special investigative panel formed after a particularly
egregious 2014 White House breach also found that that agents and
uniform officers worked "an unsustainable number of hours,'' which
also contributed to troubling attrition rates.
While about 800 agents and uniformed officers were hired during
the past year as part of an ongoing recruiting blitz to bolster the
ranks, attrition limited the agency's net staffing gain to 300,
according to agency records. And last year, Congress had to approve
a one-time fix to ensure that 1,400 agents would be compensated for
thousands of hours of overtime earned above compensation limits.
Last year's compensation shortfall was first disclosed by USA
TODAY.
"It is clear that the Secret Service's demands will continue to
be higher than ever throughout the Trump administration,'' said
Jennifer Werner, a spokesperson for Maryland Rep. Elijah
Cummings.
Cummings, the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight and
Government Reform Committee who was the first lawmaker to sound the
alarm after last year's disclosure that hundreds of agents had
maxed out on pay, recently spoke with Alles and pledged support for
a more permanent fix, Werner said.
"We cannot expect the Secret Service to be able to recruit and
keep the best of the best if they are not being paid for these
increases (in overtime hours)."
South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy, the Republican chairman of the
House oversight panel, is "working with other committees of
jurisdiction to explore ways in which we can best support'' the
Secret Service, his spokesperson Amanda Gonzalez said.
Talks also are underway in the Senate, where the Secret Service
has briefed members of the Homeland Security Committee, which
directly oversees the the agency's operations.
"Ensuring the men and women who put their lives on the line
protecting the president, his family and others every day are
getting paid fairly for their work is a priority,'' said Missouri
Sen. Claire McCaskill, the panel's top Democrat. "I'm committed to
working with my colleagues on both sides to get this done.''
Without some legislative relief, though, at least 1,100 agents –
for now – would not be eligible for overtime even as one of the
agency's largest protective assignments looms next month. Nearly
150 foreign heads of state are expected to converge on New York
City for the United Nations General Assembly.
Because of the sheer number of high-level dignitaries, the
United Nations gathering is traditionally designated by the U.S.,
as a "National Special Security Event" and requires a massive
deployment of security resources managed by the Secret Service.
That will be even trickier this year. "Normally, we are not this
tapped out,'' said Alles, whom Trump appointed to his post in
April.
The agents who have reached their compensation limits this year
represent about a third of the Secret Service workforce, which was
pressed last year to secure both national political conventions in
the midst of a rollicking campaign cycle. The campaign featured
regular clashes involving protesters at Trump rallies across the
country, prompting the Secret Service at one point to erect bike
racks as buffers around stages to thwart potential rushes from
people in the crowd.
Officials had hoped that the agency's workload would
normalize after the inauguration, but the president's frequent
weekend trips, his family's business travel and the higher number
of protectees has made that impossible.
Since his inauguration, Trump has taken seven trips to his
estate in Mar-a-Lago, Fla., traveled to his Bedminster, N.J., golf
club five times and returned to Trump Tower in Manhattan
once.
Trump's frequent visits to his "winter White House" and
"summer White House" are especially challenging for the agency,
which must maintain a regular security infrastructure at each –
while still allowing access to paying members and guests.
Always costly in manpower and equipment, the president's
jaunts to Mar-a-Lago are estimated to cost at least $3 million
each, based on a General Accounting Office estimate for similar
travel by former President Obama. The Secret Service has spent some
$60,000 on golf cart rentals alone this year to protect Trump at
both Mar-a-Lago and Bedminster.
The president, First Lady Melania Trump and the couple's
youngest son Barron – who maintained a separate detail in Trump
Tower until June – aren't the only ones on the move with full-time
security details in tow.
Trump's other sons, Trump Organization executives Donald Jr.
and Eric, based in New York, also are covered by security details,
including when they travel frequently to promote Trump-branded
properties in other countries.
A few examples: Earlier this year, Eric Trump's business
travel to Uruguay cost the Secret Service nearly $100,000 just for
hotel rooms. Other trips included the United Kingdom and the
Dominican Republic. In February, both sons and their security
details traveled to Vancouver, British Columbia, for the opening of
new Trump hotel there, and to Dubai to officially open a Trump
International Golf Club.
In March, security details accompanied part of the family,
including Ivanka Trump and husband Jared Kushner on a skiing
vacation in Aspen, Colo. Even Tiffany Trump, the president's
younger daughter, took vacations with her boyfriend to
international locales such as Germany and Hungary, which also
require Secret Service protection.
While Alles has characterized the security challenges posed by
the Trump administration as a new "reality" of the agency's
mission, the former Marine Corps major general said he has
discussed the agency's staffing limitations with the White House so
that security operations are not compromised by a unusually busy
travel schedule.
"They understand,'' Alles said. "They accommodate to the degree
they can and to the degree that it can be controlled. They have
been supportive the whole time.''
Over time, Alles expects the Secret Service's continued hiring
campaign will gradually relieve the pressure. From its current
force of 6,800 agents and uniform officers, the goal is to reach
7,600 by 2019 and 9,500 by 2025.
"We're making progress,'' he said.
For now, Alles is focused simply on ensuring that his current
agents will be paid for the work they have already done.
"We have them working all night long; we're sending them on the
road all of the time,'' Alles said. "There are no quick fixes, but
over the long term, I've got to give them a better balance (of work
and private life) here."
