President Biden on Monday called on Congress to provide more support to the Secret Service after an apparent second assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump.
“One thing I want to make clear is [that] the service needs more help. And I think Congress should respond to their need,” Mr. Biden told reporters as he departed the White House for Philadelphia.
When asked what the Secret Service may need, Mr. Biden said, “They may decide whether they need more personnel or not.”
The president’s remarks come after the FBI declared Sunday’s incident as a second apparent assassination attempt. Secret Service agents noticed an AK-47-style rifle with a scope pointed at the golf course where Mr. Trump was playing in West Palm Beach, Florida.
The suspect, Ryan Wesley Routh, is in custody. Officials found two backpacks, a gun and a GoPro camera on the fence outside of the Trump International Golf Club, where the former president was playing.
The Secret Service has disputed claims by some lawmakers that insufficient funding resulted in the security lapses that have allowed two armed men to get within striking distance of Mr. Trump.
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Earlier this month, Ron Rowe, the acting director of the Secret Service, said the agency could use more resources.
“We have taken the necessary steps to meet the operational tempo of the protective mission today, but the increased mission of the Secret Service necessitates additional resources to ensure that we have the tools, resources and personnel needed to meet these requirements and execute our mission going forward,” Mr. Rowe wrote in a letter to two members of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
However, Mr. Rowe was adamant that the security failure that resulted in a gunman killing one person, wounding two others and grazing Mr. Trump at a July campaign rally in Pennsylvania was not due to insufficient resources.
“While the reviews and investigations are ongoing, we do not believe the security failure of July 13, 2024, was the result of a lack of resources,” he said in the letter.
Mr. Rowe’s letter was in response to questions by Sens. Christopher Murray, Connecticut Democrat, and Katie Britt, Alabama Republican, who asked if the agency has resources to protect candidates in this year’s election.
Senators on both sides of the aisle have argued whether the Secret Service needs more funding in the aftermath of the first Trump assassination attempt. The Secret Service already has a larger budget than most other federal law enforcement agencies.
The agency’s budget has grown from $2.34 billion in 2014 to $3.62 billion in 2024, a 55% increase over the past decade, according to data from the Department of Homeland Security. In 2002, the year after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, the agency’s budget was just below $2 billion.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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