The Biden administration has asked Congress for special authorization to increase Secret Service spending in the coming weeks, even if Congress only passes a short-term spending bill to avoid a government shutdown, multiple congressional and administration sources told CBS News.
The White House Office of Management and Budget has filed a so-called anomaly request with congressional committees amid the aftermath of a second apparent assassination attempt about former President Donald Trump, this time, on his golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Short-term spending bills, known as continuing resolutions or CRs, are used to fund the government at current levels for a short period of time until full-year budget bills are passed. CRs often include special provisions for programs or activities that require support that differs from general funding levels, according to the Congressional Research Service.
In its request, OMB warned that without some flexibility to quickly increase Secret Service spending, “the Secret Service would have insufficient resources to support and enhance protective operations.”
Congressional aides say there are growing concerns about Secret Service funding levels, and uncertainty about how much additional funding will be needed is part of what’s dooming ongoing negotiations and deliberations on Capitol Hill over 2025 government spending. Congress has until Oct. 1 to fund the government, with the risk of a partial government closure a few weeks before election day.
In the short term, OMB indicated in its request that granting special waivers to increase Secret Service spending would allow the agency to “continue current operations and address additional costs for protection, campaign travel, operations, and overtime as they arise.”
President Biden told reporters Monday morning at the White House that the Secret Service “needs more help.” He added, “And I think Congress needs to respond to their needs if they do in fact need more military.”
The Secret Service has separately told Congress that it needs more resources to accomplish its mission. A letter sent to a Senate subcommittee a week ago by acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe said that “the increased mission requirements of the Secret Service require additional resources.”
The vice chair of the Senate Republican Budget Committee, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, told reporters: “If the Secret Service can demonstrate the need for it, I can’t imagine Congress not granting that request.”
She said the Secret Service said after the first attempt on Trump’s life in July that insufficient resources “were not a factor.” But “given the level of protection that President Trump requires, and that we continue to protect other former presidents as we should, and President Biden and Vice President Harris, there are a lot of demands on the Secret Service, particularly in an election year when President Trump is going to be all over the country,” Collins added.
Ryan Wesley Rouththe suspect in Sunday’s incident was charged Monday with two firearms offenses in federal court. Routh, 58, was armed with an AK-47-style rifle and was reportedly 300-500 yards away from Trump at Trump International Golf Course when Secret Service members spotted him and opened fire, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said. Routh, who did not fire his gun, fled and was arrested shortly afterward. Trump was unharmed and thanked the Secret Service agents and local law enforcement, calling them “absolutely outstanding.”
This incident comes just two months after Trump was shot in the ear during a meeting in Butler, Pennsylvania, mid-July. And Congress and federal agencies are still investigating the incident, which resulted in the death of a rallygoer.
Kathryn Watson and
contributed to this report.
