In July, the head of the secret service, Kimberly Cheatle, resigned. This after the agency had to endure strong criticism for the failure to stop the assassination attempt on Donald Trump during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Now an independent panel that reviewed the agency has concluded that the secret service should “do less”, instead of, as the current objective reads: “do more with less”.
“All of the agency’s resources should be devoted to the protective mission, before any other tasks are performed – including financial fraud enforcement, or law enforcement,” the report states.
The new report is based on the assassination attempt on Donald Trump in July and states that the agency is hampered by its dual mission – its two “dragons”. In addition to protecting high-ranking politicians, the agency is also tasked with investigating financial crimes and cybercrimes. The report suggests that the secret service should shift its focus to only working with protection.
If the proposal passes, it would represent a major change for the agency, whose law enforcement function has a longer history than its mission to protect the president.
“The guardian dragon always eats first”
The proposal quickly faced major opposition from defenders of the Secret Service who argue that the flaws that led to a man opening fire on Donald Trump during his rally were not the result of the agency’s law enforcement arm.
– There are two dragons. The law enforcement dragon is much smaller and will never eat first. The protective dragon always eats first, an anonymous former Secret Service employee told Politico.
Limiting the agency’s role could lead to it attracting and recruiting the wrong kind of people in the future – inferior and less versatile individuals.
The agency’s defenders further argue that its two heads support each other, rather than conflict with each other. Law enforcement work builds character because it deepens the agents’ relationship with state and local police, and also sharpens the skills required to protect people.
Trump’s campaign declined to comment
US Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who commissioned the report, has not yet taken a position on the proposal to narrow the Secret Service’s mandate, but he has said in a statement that he will consider the panel’s recommendations.
A spokesperson for the White House has said that they will carefully review what emerged in the report. The Trump campaign, however, has chosen not to comment on the proposal.
The panel that produced the report consists of former employees within Homeland and the police authority.