As Donald Trump visits Butler today for the first time since narrowly surviving an assassination attempt in the U.S., current and former Secret Service agents fear another security blow.
Dozens of current and former Secret Service agents told NBC News that an increased workload and understaffing has pushed the agency to a “breaking point” and “crisis” that has led to mistakes, loosening of protocols. and low morale, which could lead to another catastrophic failure.
The concerns come as the agency is under increasing pressure to protect Trump, two months after security lapses allowed a 20-year-old gunman to fire eight shots at the former president, wounding him in the ear.
Two U.S. officials told NBC News that the visit coincided with the Secret Service’s “red line,” meaning staff is maxed out and agents are working excessive hours.
“The US Secret Service is killing its own people, and worse, they should have zero rest/zero sleep fail protection missions,” the former agent said. “I love my agency, but they’re gearing up for another event.”
The current agents asked not to be identified because they are not authorized to speak to the media. The former agents spoke on condition of anonymity to speak candidly about what they see as a major turning point for the agency.
The problems with the Secret Service are well known throughout federal law enforcement. One law enforcement official told NBC News that the Secret Service was “virtually stretched to the breaking point.”
“I hate to say it, they’re going to hit rock bottom fast,” said one former Secret Service agent. “It’s systemic,” said another.
A senior Secret Service official acknowledged the level of concern about the agency, telling NBC News, “We are doing everything we can to ensure that another security incident does not happen again.”
US Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi acknowledged the challenges.
“During this dynamic threat environment, increased demand on the agency has resulted in our people being overstretched,” he said. “We understand that this is not sustainable and we cannot risk another mission failure.”
The Secret Service increased its workforce in fiscal year 2024, hiring 1,099 employees, nearly double the number of new hires in the previous two fiscal years. A net increase of 186 Special Agents in FY 2024 reversed two years of net losses.
But the new recruits are not enough to stabilize the agency, as they must undergo a year of training to handle high-risk assignments.
Attrition is also a major problem at the agency and part of a broader trend among law enforcement agencies in the United States..
“Attrition is an epidemic in law enforcement at every level right now,” said one US official.
The combination of greater numbers of people protected, increased threat levels and high attrition rates has left the workforce overstretched.
One former Secret Service leader who served for decades told NBC News that pressure on the agency “has never been greater than it is now.”
Former Assistant Special Agent in Charge Paul Eckloff, who oversaw the defense details of President Obama and President Trump, sat on a 2014 panel investigating personnel issues at the Secret Service.
Ekloff said he found that each security detail had hundreds of agents below optimal staffing levels. He shared that he once fell asleep on his way home from Camp David after a grueling tour of duty and felt lucky to be alive.
“I don’t blame Secret Service leadership because agents and officers have always accepted that fatigue is part of the personal sacrifice that the mission requires,” he said. “The nature of the work and the mission is such that it will always exist at the bleeding edge of human endurance and capacity.”
Guglielmi said Acting Director Ron Rowe has developed a plan for an agency-wide paradigm shift that “focuses on growing and retaining the agency’s workforce, modernizing our technology and building a continuous training plan.”
Fall asleep
Agents said they have personally witnessed or been aware of agents falling asleep while on the job in recent months, and believe it reflects dangerous levels of fatigue. Other agents said they had not seen or heard accounts of agents falling asleep on duty.
Agents said they worked extremely long hours and went weeks or even months without a day off. Many agents described being “at the end of their ropes” physically and mentally, including one agent who said they had gone to work sick for several weeks but had not had time to see a doctor.
“Mistakes are made,” said the former Secret Service agent, who now privately works with the agency for major events.
At a recent event attended by former President Barack Obama and detailed, the former agent said it’s clear the staffing shortage is taking its toll.
“A member of the former President’s detail told me, ‘Thank God you are here.’ You understand,” the former agent recalled. “I see they don’t have the manpower they need. They are short … they don’t have the people to do the essentials.”
Some agents described significant paperwork errors caught at the last minute. Or agents make mistakes or second-guess themselves while on protective duty.
“Tensions are high and judgments are being released more often,” said one agent. “If something goes wrong, you don’t have time to second guess. Everyone is so tired that you can see that it takes time to process everything and react accordingly.”
Agents retaining attorneys
Awareness of the pitfalls and potential risks has led some agents to retain attorneys. Others turn to other law enforcement agencies for work.
“Smart agents only document security issues to cover themselves,” a former supervisor told NBC News.
Another current agent said they recently took out additional personal liability insurance in case of a security incident. “Everybody’s covering their ass,” said another former agent.
The tension was evident last month during the United Nations General Assembly in New York, during which the Secret Service provided security for dozens of foreign dignitaries in addition to their American protectors.
Some current and former agents have raised the alarm that standard protocols are being relaxed or not being fully enforced due to staffing shortages. Some said they were concerned that the names were not consistently checked against a database of foreign dignitaries considered low-risk.
“This is the main weakness. At best, we let in someone with close to a respectable past and an embarrassment to the country,” said one former agent. “But it could be a disaster.”
Lack of staff sometimes affected the staffing of command posts. Agents described being assigned duties that typically involved multiple people performing specific roles, such as security, communications, and backups.
One agent described how staffing shortages in recent weeks have resulted in one Secret Service agent handling multiple cases at a command post.
In other cases, the agency has relied on other law enforcement agencies, such as Homeland Security Investigations, with significantly less training and experience to fill roles and sometimes entire positions.
Ramping
As the presidential campaign intensified in the final months before the election, the Secret Service had to provide high-level protection to even more people. As a result, the typical number of days to prepare in advance has dropped to a few days at best.
“There’s a huge security risk because you already have burned-out, burned-out agents, now you have less time to develop a solid security plan and get all the assets in order,” one current agent told NBC News, citing “holes in the security plans.”
One former Secret Service official said the agency’s failures at Butler reflected an organization expected to operate at a similar level to the U.S. Navy. However, elite military or law enforcement officers spend the vast majority of their time on training rather than on day-to-day activities.
“The Secret Service is upside down on this, maybe the operation is 99% and 1% training,” the former official said. “And you do it because you don’t have enough people.”
U.S. officials told NBC News that threat assessment levels for Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have reached unprecedented highs — both from domestic actors and sophisticated foreign adversaries.
Current and former agents told NBC News that they, too, are increasingly concerned about the potential for agent compromise or an insider threat.
“[Leadership] They’re more concerned about compromising an agent — overwork, international targeting, it’s just opening Pandora’s box,” said one former Secret Service official.. “They have to have a serious come to Jesus, a war room conversation. They really do.”
Agents said overwork and fatigue also created resentment at the agency, which could be exploited by foreign intelligence agencies or other adversaries.
“Any morale that may have existed in this agency is completely drained; people are really starting to despise this agency,” the agent said. “Unfortunately, I wouldn’t be surprised if we were in a situation where agents were compromising or selling information.”
Current and former officials also worry about a mass exodus of Secret Service personnel over the next 18 months. “It’s one of the biggest fears” for the leadership, said another person familiar with the internal discussions.
The focus of the newly expanded recruiting task force is to recruit and train more “weapons carriers,” including special agents, uniformed officers and other specialized technical units, officials said. The Secret Service said it is also devoting resources to studying emerging technologies to help reduce staffing needs.
US officials say the problems at the Secret Service will require a number of changes to ensure long-term stability.
One law enforcement official said, “When you die on my face and then you’re still dying on my face.”