Too Many Trumps Dry Up Secret Service Funds? Same Money Woes Heard Last Year
The Secret Service has run dry when it comes to the money needed to pay their agents for protecting the extended Trump family, according to reports Monday. Headlines are flashing with reports that protection for Trump and his family have tapped out the Secret Service funds for the fiscal year.
Reports also indicate that nearly 1,000 Secret Service agents are in jeopardy of not being paid. These reports tag Trump, his large family, and their tendency to travel, as the combined culprits putting the Secret Service in the red.
The head of the Secret Service has released a statement to provide what some are calling “damage control” after the reports hit news sites that the Secret Service doesn’t have the money to pay their agents. Today’s dilemma sounded very serious, as agents weren’t going to see the money owed to them for the overtime they’ve already worked while protecting the members of the Trump family.
Reports stress that the Trump family members’ needs have already depleted the money for the rest of the year, leaving many to believe that is until the end of December. Like many big businesses, the fiscal year for the Secret Service doesn’t correlate with the calendar year. The current Secret Service fiscal year comes to an end September 30, according to the Hill.
.@HouseHomeland Dems' fear realized: Secret Service drains funds to pay agents bc of Trump family's frequent travelhttps://t.co/Gd6ypS7YKB
— Caroline Kelly (@caroline_mkelly) August 21, 2017
The hoopla started on Monday morning when many news sites offered up this rather bizarre news.
CNN reported, “The Secret Service cannot pay hundreds of agents to protect President Donald Trump and his large family, according to a report published Monday morning.”
Many of the reports were tweeted today, with people sharing the news posts online. Those posts are placed throughout this article, like the one above and below from Twitter.
CNN also reported, “Secret Service Director Randolph “Tex” Alles told USA Today more than 1,000 agents have already hit the federally mandated caps for salary and overtime allowances — which were meant to last the entire year.”
President Trump's Making the Secret Service Go Broke!!! https://t.co/wGnQgWg0Y0
— TMZ (@TMZ) August 21, 2017
According to Politico, the head of the Secret Service may have engaged in some “damage control” when he issued a statement later on Monday clarifying the Secret Service’s perceived money woes. He appeared to take the blame off Trump, which had been going on for hours in the headlines by this time.
Alles said in that statement, “This issue is not one that can be attributed to the current Administration’s protection requirements, but rather has been an ongoing issue for nearly a decade due to an overall increase in operational tempo.”
He also said that the Secret Service has the funding to “meet all current mission requirements,” which are scheduled through the remainder of the fiscal year. One of the more important notes to come out of Alles’ statement was that even though approximately 1,100 people employed by the Secret Service are expected to hit their capped compensation for 2017, this is the same thing that occurred for 2016. Donald Trump and his family weren’t in the White House at that time.
Congress was “forced to override limits in 2016” when hundreds of agents maxed out of their allotted hours. This year, money has already been earmarked for the Secret Service by lawmakers. The amount is said to be in the neighborhood of $60 million.
The federal policy indicates that for each agent, their combined salary and overtime pay is capped at $160,300 for the year. Alles has been in touch with congressional party leaders about raising the limits of compensation for their agents.
He told USA Today in the interview that started the buzz online, “We have them working all night long; we’re sending them on the road all of the time. There are no quick fixes, but over the long-term, I’ve got to give them a better balance [of work and private life] here.”
To fix this problem, Alles has looked into hiring new agents in addition to the ones that are already on staff. He did say that he “doesn’t see this happening in the near-term.”
[Featured Image by Albert H. Teich/Shutterstock]
