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re: Secret Service is broke

Posted on 8/22/17 at 6:17 am to
Posted by cajunangelle
Member since Oct 2012
148181 posts
Posted on 8/22/17 at 6:17 am to
Has anyone read the article? This is an ongoing problem since before Trump; but his big family and frequent travel brought it to a head. I have a feeling when Trump is made aware he will donate his salary to the SS from now on. If you read the entire article it is a call for Congress to pass something to pay: the capped out paychecks.
quote:

Cummings, the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee who was the first lawmaker to sound the alarm after last year's disclosure that hundreds of agents had maxed out on pay, recently spoke with Alles and pledged support for a more permanent fix, Werner said.

"We cannot expect the Secret Service to be able to recruit and keep the best of the best if they are not being paid for these increases (in overtime hours)."

South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy, the Republican chairman of the House oversight panel, is "working with other committees of jurisdiction to explore ways in which we can best support'' the Secret Service, his spokesperson Amanda Gonzalez said.

Talks also are underway in the Senate, where the Secret Service has briefed members of the Homeland Security Committee, which directly oversees the the agency's operations.

"Ensuring the men and women who put their lives on the line protecting the president, his family and others every day are getting paid fairly for their work is a priority,'' said Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill, the panel's top Democrat. "I'm committed to working with my colleagues on both sides to get this done.''

Without some legislative relief, though, at least 1,100 agents – for now – would not be eligible for overtime even as one of the agency's largest protective assignments looms next month. Nearly 150 foreign heads of state are expected to converge on New York City for the United Nations General Assembly.

Because of the sheer number of high-level dignitaries, the United Nations gathering is traditionally designated by the U.S., as a "National Special Security Event" and requires a massive deployment of security resources managed by the Secret Service.

That will be even trickier this year. "Normally, we are not this tapped out,'' said Alles, whom Trump appointed to his post in April.

The agents who have reached their compensation limits this year represent about a third of the Secret Service workforce, which was pressed last year to secure both national political conventions in the midst of a rollicking campaign cycle. The campaign featured regular clashes involving protesters at Trump rallies across the country, prompting the Secret Service at one point to erect bike racks as buffers around stages to thwart potential rushes from people in the crowd.

Officials had hoped that the agency's workload would normalize after the inauguration, but the president's frequent weekend trips, his family's business travel and the higher number of protectees has made that impossible.

It is very unprofessional of the SS head to leak this to USA Today. As it is used as a political gotcha; while a POTUS gets assassination threats because of political butthurt. It is plain wrong and usually a bipartisan issue and he should be fired.


This post was edited on 8/22/17 at 6:19 am
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