Secret Service overhaul talk hits Capitol Hill after Trump assassination attempts
Some House Republicans are mulling legislation to move the Secret Service out of the Department of Homeland Security after two attempts on former President Trump's life in two months.
The recent attempts on former President Trump’s life have left some House Republicans questioning whether the U.S. Secret Service (USSS) should remain under the control of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
"I think that's something that we should look at — if we need to remove them from Homeland, make them a standalone agency or answer to someone else. I mean, their mission, I think, is entirely different than a lot of the agencies under that Department of Homeland Security umbrella," Rep. Michael Guest, R-Miss., vice chair of the Committee on Homeland Security, told Fox News Digital.
The Secret Service was established in 1865 as a bureau of the Treasury Department to tackle counterfeiting and was authorized by Congress to provide full-time protection to the president in 1913, according to the agency's website. It was transferred from the Treasury Department to the newly created DHS in 2003.
The agency has faced a barrage of scrutiny after two assassination attempts against Trump. In July, Trump was injured after a 20-year-old gunman opened fire on his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, killing one attendee. Last weekend, officers arrested a 58-year-old man who appeared to have been waiting for Trump at his West Palm Beach golf course with an AK-47.
WATCH ON FOX NATION: THE ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATIONS OF DONALD TRUMP
No legislative proposal has surfaced on this specific issue, but several GOP lawmakers told Fox News Digital the incidents spurred wider conversations among some members about DHS in general.
"I think what this opens up is the extent to which, 20 years later, the wisdom of creating the Department of Homeland Security in the first place should be questioned," said Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas. "Frankly, DHS is failing as a whole, on multiple levels.
"That's not a testament to any of the line folks. … But the top folks in the bureaucracy, it's killing us. … Secret Service would be a step."
Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., said DHS being "a catch-all agency" was "not working."
"I just honestly feel that the Secret Service isn't getting the sunshine or the attention it needs from [Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas], simply because his agency is massive. And I think there's nothing wrong with us breaking that up," Donalds said. "And it's not just Secret Service. It's border security. It's immigration processes and all the other stuff."
Donalds added that it would likely not feasibly be done this year, but he suggested there could be a more serious push if Republicans kept the House majority in November.
Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, recalled that, during his time in the White House medical unit, there was some discontent among agents about being moved to DHS.
"For a while, when it first happened, I know for a fact — because I was around these guys every day being at the White House 14 years — they weren't big fans of it. … They were kind of a big fish in a little pond when they were with Treasury, and then when they got rolled into this massive, you know, bureaucracy of DHS … they felt like it kind of downgraded their importance and their abilities," Jackson said.
Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., similarly told Fox News Digital he "wouldn’t be opposed" to looking at breaking up DHS.
And Rep. Mark Alford, R-Mo., wrote on X in recent days, "We don’t need to throw more money at the U.S. Secret Service — we need new leadership.
"I believe we should move the USSS back under the Treasury Department, away from Homeland Security — which has become a political tool under the biggest liar since Pinocchio, Alejandro Mayorkas," Alford said.
Several other House Republicans who spoke with Fox News Digital, however, were either skeptical of the idea or said they had not had such discussions.
"People say a lot of things that, I don't know if it's just off the cuff, but they say things are – it's just a thought process that they're going through," said House Trump shooting task force chairman Mike Kelly, R-Pa. "There's a structure in place right now."
A spokesperson for DHS told Fox News Digital it would not comment on unspecified conversations but pushed back on assertions USSS should be moved.
"We cannot comment on unspecified conversations among Members of Congress. As the lead partner with law enforcement at all levels and as the Department responsible for protecting the homeland, the Secret Service is correctly situated in DHS," the spokesperson said. "DHS proudly stands with the U.S. Secret Service as one of its important components."
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