Saturday, September 21, 2024 Five days after the second apparent assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump, the US House of Representatives on Friday, September 20, unanimously passed bipartisan legislation that would boost Secret Service protection for the two parties’ presidential nominees, Trump and Kamala Harris, as well as their vice presidential running mates.
The vote was 405-0. It required two-thirds
support of the House to pass because it came to the floor under an expedited
process. In a separate action, lawmakers also passed a resolution expanding the
scope of the bipartisan House task force investigating the July 13, Trump
assassination attempt to include the second incident.
The bill’s passage comes as lawmakers
grapple over how to address the growing threats of violence against major
political figures in the U.S. ahead of the November election. Some lawmakers
have called for more Secret Service funding, while others said the Secret
Service could be more effective by shifting resources.
Specifically, the Enhanced Presidential
Security Act introduced by Reps. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., and Ritchie Torres,
D-N.Y. would require the Secret Service to “apply the same standards for
determining the number of agents required to protect Presidents, Vice
Presidents, and major Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates.”
The bill is just three pages long and gives the Secret Service broad discretion
on how to figure out staffing levels. But if it's signed into law, Trump and
Harris would be granted the same standard of Secret Security protection as
President Joe Biden.
“We as a
federal government have a responsibility to ensure the safety and the
well-being of these candidates. One of them is going to be president, and the
election should be decided by voters at the ballot box — not by an assassin’s
bullet,” Lawler told reporters.
“And
if the argument by the Secret Service is that they don’t have enough resources
or they don’t have enough manpower,” he said, “then that needs to be addressed
immediately.”
Despite the big bipartisan House vote, it’s
unclear how the Senate will handle the issue of security. Appropriators from
both chambers are discussing whether to include additional funding for the
Secret Service in the stopgap funding bill Congress must pass by September 30
to avert a government shutdown.
Biden said this week that the Secret Service
"needs more help" and called on Congress to act, with both Senate
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., have
committed to getting the Secret Service what they need.
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