Jefferson Reporter

U.S. Senators Katie Britt (R-Ala.) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), respectively Ranking Member and Chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, wrote to Acting Director of the Secret Service Ronald L. Rowe Jr. on Wednesday seeking information regarding the U.S. Secret Service’s Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25) budgetary needs.

This request follows an assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump and is a necessary step before the Senate Committee on Appropriations advances the Fiscal Year 2025 Homeland Security Appropriations Act.

“The Secret Service was first charged with protecting the President of the United States in 1902, and while it has taken on a number of other important missions over time, safeguarding the President and presidential candidates remains one of its core responsibilities,” wrote Britt and Murphy. “Recognizing the importance of this mission, Congress provided more than $190 million to the Secret Service in Fiscal Year 2024, 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 continued: “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 requested that the Secret Service provide answers to several questions regarding the agency’s funding needs.

The full text of the letter is available HERE.

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