As Congress conducts hearings and tries to get to the bottom of the numerous failures by the Secret Service that led to the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, last month, one after another, Secret Service officials who should have known basic things like who was in charge and making sure there was coordination with local authorities, are instead claiming no knowledge of anything and coming off like the Keystone Cops. But a new House Bill could be just the thing to prevent another massive Secret Service breakdown.

Our country was millimeters away from a presidential assassination.

My bill ensures all presidential candidates are protected and requires the Secret Service Director to be confirmed by the Senate.

USSS Directors MUST be capable and apolitical.

— Rep. August Pfluger (@RepPfluger) August 5, 2024

Rep. August Pfluger (R-TX) and five other House Republicans are backing a bill that would subject the Secret Service Director to a confirmation process in the Senate. The committee of jurisdiction would then vote on the nominee, followed by a vote in the entire chamber. A similar bill was introduced last month in the Senate, which would impose a ten-year term limit on the director position. Currently, the Secret Service Director is appointed by the president. In addition, the bill would require the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to provide presidential and vice-presidential candidates with a rationale for security within 14 days of the decisions being made.

The Secret Service has rightly been the subject of intense scrutiny since July 13, when Trump and two rally attendees were shot, one fatally. The agency is now facing some brutal questions by both the House and Senate as to how a 20-year-old kid was able to get onto a rooftop right outside a security perimeter, with both law enforcement and rally attendees spotting him before he managed to get several shots off. Pfluger was direct and to the point about the need for the bill, saying,

"In today's highly divisive political climate, the DHS Secretary owes all presidential candidates fair, apolitical, timely, and transparent consideration of USSS protection. Our country was millimeters away from a presidential assassination. We must provide adequate security for all presidential candidates – no matter their party affiliation."

Pfluger went on to say that Senate confirmation of the position would ensure that nominees are "capable and apolitical." The recent history of the Secret Service, the premier agency tasked with the protection of the president of the United States, as well as other high-level officials under the direction of former director Kimberly Cheatle, has been rather sketchy. Trump had been asking for additional security measures for roughly two years before the shooting and was denied, with the agency citing a lack of resources. The Secret Service had also denied independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. protection, even though his father and uncle had been assassinated. 

Senators Chuck Grassley(R-IA) and Catherine Cortez Masto(D-Nev.) have introduced the 'Protect Act' that would require Senate confirmation for all future USSS Directors. This would remove it from being a presidential appointment and bring it line with other federal law enforcement…

— Robbie Mouton (@mcgmouton57) July 27, 2024

This would remove it from being a presidential appointment and bring it line with other federal law enforcement agencies. It would also promote transparency and accountability. 

Cheatle, a Biden appointee, was forced to resign ten days after the assassination attempt after a disastrous appearance before the House Oversight Committee. Cheatle was replaced by acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe, who went through a similar grilling recently when he and Deputy FBI Director Paul Abbate appeared before the Senate Judiciary and the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committees. Things for Rowe went about as well as they did for Cheatle.

The Secret Service needs an obvious overhaul, and should Donald Trump be reelected, that would surely happen. But the FBI is leading the investigation into the assassination attempt on Trump. One familiar name has been floated as a possible FBI Director in a second Trump administration. Radio talk show host Dan Bongino is a former Secret Service agent whose name has come up on social media. During a recent interview with the Daily Signal, he was asked about the possible career change. Bongino stated, "I would do it only if President Trump personally wanted it...I never envisioned myself going back into government, like ever...you know, there comes a time where your country matters more..."

The idea of not just accountability but ensuring those tasked with protecting the president are the most qualified and the best trained, thankfully, seems to be a bipartisan concern. It is not known if the bill will be voted on or when as of yet.

I know that I can’t be the only one who would like to see this man as the Director of the Secret Service.
He definitely is qualified.
If I was in charge of hiring…
hands down I would offer the job to Dan Bongino
.@dbongino pic.twitter.com/QZtk9g9108

— Penny Lane (@Penny_FL13) July 23, 2024