The current fiscal year ends Sept. 30.
The Secret Service said Monday it has enough money to protect President Trump through September, even as the agency acknowledged it’s running up against its spending limit for agents protecting the president and his family.
“The Secret Service has the funding it needs to meet all current mission requirements for the remainder of the fiscal year and compensate employees for overtime within statutory pay caps, ” agency director Randolph “Tex” Alles said in a statement.
The current fiscal year ends Sept. 30 .
ADVERTISEMENT Alles said around 1,100 employees will hit federally mandated caps on salary and overtime that were supposed to last the entire year and suggested he will ask Congress to pass legislation as it did last year to allow the agency to exceed those pay caps.
“To remedy this ongoing and serious problem, the agency has worked closely with the Department of Homeland Security, the administration and the Congress over the past several months to find a legislative solution, ” Alles said.
The Secret Service issued a statement after the USA Today reported how the agency has struggled to handle a heightened workload protecting Trump since last year’s campaign.
The president frequently travels to his properties in Florida, New Jersey and Virginia, and agents must protect more people than in previous administrations. Trump has 42 protectees, including 18 members of his family. There were 31 protectees under President Obama, something that Alles told the paper had posed a challenge.
Alles acknowledged the cost of protecting Trump is part of the problem.
„This issue is not one that can be attributed to the current administration’s protection requirements alone, but rather has been an ongoing issue for nearly a decade due to an overall increase in operational tempo, “ he said.
Updated 12: 52 p.m.
