A new survey found that fewer than a third of American adults rate the U.S. Secret Service's job performance as “excellent” or “good.” Gallup Poll, It marked a new record low for the federal agency tasked with protecting the country's political leaders.
The survey released Monday showed that for the first time in a decade, 36 percent of Americans rated the Secret Service's performance as “poor,” compared with a combined 32 percent who rated it “excellent” or “good.” Another 25 percent rated the agency's performance as “fair.”
The latest survey, conducted almost before the second assassination attempt on former President Trump on Sept. 15, marked a dramatic 23-point drop from the previous survey. Last year, 55% rated the department's performance as “excellent” or “fair,” while 30% rated it “fair” and 13% rated it “poor.”
The Secret Service has come under intense scrutiny since Trump was targeted by a gunman at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and was rushed off the stage after a bullet grazed his ear.
Amid strong public outcry, the bureau's director ultimately resigned.
The Secret Service conducted an internal investigation after the first assassination attempt, and findings released Friday found “multiple operational and communications failures” by the agency leading up to the July assassination attempt.
ofInitial findingsThey cited numerous flaws in the plan, from an unclear chain of command between police and local law enforcement partners at the rally to an inability to easily communicate across different radio frequencies.
The investigation also found that some employees did not follow Secret Service procedures, raising questions about future disciplinary action.
Gallup researchers compared the Secret Service's recent double-digit drop in approval to similar moments in U.S. history when approval of the agency dropped dramatically. They noted that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's job ratings fell 24 points from 2019 to 2021, before and after the pandemic hit. Additionally, the Federal Reserve's ratings similarly fell 23 points from 2003 to 2009, after the start of the Great Recession.
The Hill has asked the Secret Service for a response.
The new survey, conducted Sept. 3-15, includes interviews with 1,007 U.S. adults and has a margin of error of 4 percentage points.
