President Donald Trump has been in the White House for only 11 weeks. After that short period of time, the Secret Service has come to the conclusion that protecting the president and his family is the most challenging job they have ever had. It is probably because there are so many in the family, and members of the first family are not all in the same location. Besides, they travel a lot. At least 40 percent more agents are needed for the trump administration than during other presidential administrations.
Secret Service concerns
Because so many agents are needed, dozens of them have been pulled in from New York and from around the nation to protect the first family.
Some agents had to leave their criminal investigation jobs to serve the Trumps. The agents work long hours and have to do a lot of traveling because the president goes back and forth from Washington, D.C to his Mar-a-Lago retreat in Florida. Then there is First Lady Melania Trump and 11-year-old son Barron who have to be protected in New York.
Not only are agents overworked, but it is costing taxpayers millions of dollars every single day. Republican Representative Jason Chaffetz says the agents are worn out. Democratic Representative Elijah Cummings said the situation is like being on a bike that you never get off. It concerns officials of Homeland Security and others that the Secret Service might not be able to keep up the pace.
So far, the agency has noticed a high attrition rate. It has also noticed that the morale among agents has sunk to the lowest of any federal agency. Douglas A. Smith served as an assistant secretary of Homeland Security under former President Barack Obama. He contends that it is not that the agents are incapable of doing a good job.
Rather, they are just stretched too thin.
Those protected
Never before has the Secret Service had to protect a first lady's residence outside Washington as well as protecting the president in Washington. The Secret Service has to protect the president, the first lady, four adult children, their spouses and children, and an elementary school child.
The vice president and his wife, as well as several top aides, including Kellyanne Conway, are also protected.
Buildings are also protected. For example, Trump Tower is protected at the cost of between $127,000 and $145,000 every day. When the president is there, it is $300,000 a day.
