Funding for the U.S. Secret Service for fiscal year 2025 is in question as lawmakers continue to investigate the July 13 assassination attempt at former President Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, that left one person dead and two injured.
“Despite the swift response of the Secret Service, the attack resulted in the death of Corey Comperatore, serious injuries to two other attendees, and a bullet nearly took the life of Corey Comperatore. [p]”We are issuing a warning to our residents,” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., and Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., wrote in a letter to Acting Director of the Secret Service Ronald Lowe on Wednesday.
According to Senator Murphy’s office, the Senate Appropriations Committee and Homeland Security Subcommittee have withdrawn planned increases to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) budget, allowing lawmakers more time to debate the Secret Service’s funding needs and reach a bipartisan agreement on other issues currently under consideration by the committee.
In their letter to Rowe, Murphy and Britt questioned how the USSS allocated DHS funds to carry out its mission of protecting current and former presidents, other political leaders and their families.
Trump shooting: A timeline of the assassination attempt
“What happened to President Trump in Pennsylvania should never have happened,” Britt said in a Wednesday post on X. “The American people and Congress have a right to answers from the Secret Service before they write any checks. As the bipartisan leader of the Senate Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, along with Senator Murphy, I am working to get answers.”
Video taken from the perspective of the victim of the Trump assassination attempt shows a figure moving across a rooftop moments before the shooting
Republican presidential candidate and former president Donald Trump is surrounded by U.S. Secret Service agents during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, Saturday, July 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Last year, Congress appropriated more than $3 billion for the USSS, according to a July 2024 report. Congressional Research ServiceMeanwhile, the report shows USSS employee numbers are declining slightly from a high of 7,811 in 2021 to 7,689 in 2023.
In their letter, Murphy and Britt noted that $190 million of that funding is specifically dedicated to protecting the 2024 presidential campaign, “including an additional $22 million above President Biden’s budget request for protection-related travel.”
Trump assassination attempt victim James Copenhaver ‘saddened’ by state of ‘political division’ in America
Acting Director of the U.S. Secret Service Ronald Rowe Jr. testifies before a joint hearing of the Senate Judiciary, Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committees at the Dirksen Senator’s Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, July 30, 2024. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
“Despite this increase, the Secret Service submitted a reprogramming notice to our Subcommittee in mid-June, prior to the assassination attempt, detailing its intent to transfer $19 million to cover security-related travel shortfalls,” the letter states.
As the USSS takes on greater responsibilities, questions are being raised about whether the agency has enough funding to carry out its mission, the senators said.
Trump assassination attempt: FBI says gunman climbed into air conditioning unit, then across roof to location
Secret Service members and a crowd gather at a rally for former Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
The subcommittee is seeking answers about whether the USSS “mandated” funding provided by Congress for 2024 to security for the 2024 presidential election, whether the service provided the same level of security for Trump’s July 13 rally as it did for Biden’s rally in Michigan the day before, whether the Secret Service rejected the Trump campaign’s request for additional personnel, and whether the USSS “projects a funding shortfall for fiscal year 2024.”
Click here to get the FOX News app
Fox News Digital has reached out to the USSS for a response to the letter.
