Rep. Elijah Cummings, Maryland Democrat, said Sunday that a culture of complacency in the Secret Service has led to the recent security failure that let a man get into the front door of the White House.
“It seems we have a Secret Service that doesn’t even trust itself and that leads to problems,” he said on “Face the Nation.”
Mr. Cummings said officials will need to look at how to improve training, morale and comfort to share problems within the agency, and decrease the organization’s high turnover. They’re also looking at why several protections, like guards on the lawn and a dog that could have been released to stop the intruder, were not deployed.
“There were basically five layers of security that failed, which is ridiculous,” he said. “This is a transformational moment, but we have to look at the Secret Service, figure this all out and get it right.”
Julia Pierson, the former head of the Secret Service, stepped down last week after appearing before Congress, but Mr. Cummings said the entire problem didn’t rest with her and that more will likely lose their jobs.
“It did not begin with her and it’s not going to end with her leaving,” he said. “There are still probably people who need to go.”
• Jacqueline Klimas can be reached at jklimas@washingtontimes.com.
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