Did you know the Secret Service has other duties beyond protecting the President of the United States? Representative Andy Biggs (R-AZ) introduced a new bill that would transfer those other responsibilities to the FBI, citing the failures to protect President-elect Donald Trump on the campaign trail on July 13th.
The Secret Service Prioritization Act would transfer the agency's duties of investigating financial crimes such as counterfeiting, for which it was initially established under President Lincoln in 1865, and focus solely on its better-known role in protecting the President and other officials, which began in 1901 under President McKinley.
Rep. Biggs cited an October report from the Department of Homeland Security's Independent Review Panel suggesting that the dual responsibilities of protecting the President and investigating financial crimes are incompatible. The latter draws resources away from the former, which should be its main priority.
After all, according to Rep. Biggs's press release, the Secret Service has 3,200 special agents and a $3 billion budget, and July 13th demonstrated that they "must be properly allocated to ensure that non-protective measures do not take priority over the primary duty to protect current and former presidents, vice presidents, and presidential nominees."
"July 13th, 2024, was a wake-up call to the failures of the Secret Service. In no world should an agency with a budget of $3+ billion and 3,200 specialized agents fail to protect the life of one of the most influential figures in the world. The failures of July 13th illustrate the necessity to strip non-protective responsibilities from the Secret Service to ensure it is focused on the execution of its primary duty. Now that President Trump's FBI will be shifting away from weaponization against American citizens, they will be fully equipped to take on the Secret Service's non-protective, investigative functions. It's imperative that House Leadership move this legislation quickly through the House to ensure that no event like July 13th is ever able to occur again," Biggs added.
Representative Eli Crane (R-AZ), one of the bill's cosponsors, said, "The Secret Service should have a singular focus on protection. Many failures have been exposed over the last six months, and I'm proud to join Rep. Biggs in introducing legislation that seeks to fix one of them."
