Advertisement

Donald Trump family travel so expensive that Secret Service has run out of money

The Secret Service budget is stretched thin: Bruno Vincent/Getty
The Secret Service budget is stretched thin: Bruno Vincent/Getty

The United States Secret Service is stretching its resources thin in order to provide security for the richest man to ever inhabit the White House.

Because of Donald Trump’s frequent travels away from Washington to places like his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, and because of his large family, more than 1,000 agents have already met the caps on salary and overtime allowance that were supposed to last the entire year. Those caps are federally mandated.

“The President has a large family, and our responsibility is required in law,” Secret Service Director Randolph “Tex” Alles told USA Today. “I can’t change that. I have no flexibility.”

The financial strain has been a long time coming. The contentious 2016 campaign season was particularly taxing for the agency, and that pressure has not let up. Mr Trump, whose many adult children require protection during overseas business trips, has a large family that has spread agents and budgets thin. The President has also taken frequent vacations, further depleting resources.

The Trump administration has an unprecedented number of people who need Secret Service detail. Mr Trump’s White House has 42 people who with protection, including 18 members of the President’s family. There were 31 individuals who needed protection during the Obama administration.

That budget strain has led Mr Alles to conversations with Congress to try and raise the combined salary cap for agents from $160,000 a year to $187,000 a year during the Trump administration. Even if those increases were approved, however, they would likely not fully compensate the hundreds of hours already amassed by about 130 veteran agents.

The Secret Service has been in turmoil over the past five years amid disclosures of sexual misconduct by agents in Colombia, followed by White House security breaches. The agency has attempted to bolster its ranks with an 800-person hiring blitz, but so many people left during the past year that the net gain was just 300 more personnel. In addition to that attrition, Congress was forced to approve a one-time fix for about 1,400 agents who had amassed thousands of overtime hours earned above compensation limits.

It is unsure how the agency and Congress might be able to meet future demands and shortfalls, and agent need isn’t likely to diminish during the Trump administration.