The Secret Service is out of cash and can’t afford to pay one-third of their agents for hours they’ve already worked, because of Trump and his family’s frequent travel and vacations.
USA Today reported, “The Secret Service can no longer pay hundreds of agents it needs to carry out an expanded protective mission – in large part due to the sheer size of President Trump’s family and efforts necessary to secure their multiple residences up and down the East Coast. Secret Service Director Randolph “Tex” Alles, in an interview with USA TODAY, said more than 1,000 agents have already hit the federally mandated caps for salary and overtime allowances that were meant to last the entire year. ”
The reason why the Secret Service can’t afford to pay agents for hours already worked is that Trump has traveled to one of his own properties almost every weekend of his presidency. The Secret Service also protects Trump’s family while they are on their business trips and vacations.
Outside of the fact that Trump is wasting hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayer money because he won’t stay in the White House, there is a much bigger security problem. The Secret Service is understaffed and overworked. The people who are supposed to protect the President are being stretched too thin. The hours are too long, and the Secret Service has been losing agents faster than they can replace them.
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Trump has managed to eat up the entire Secret Service budget for payroll in seven months.
Providing more money is not good enough. Congress controls the appropriations for presidential spending, and they must step in and put a stop to Trump’s reckless and selfish waste of limited Secret Service resources. The President should kick in some money to cover his security or stop going on vacation nearly every weekend.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
