Last week, a Secret Service Uniformed Division officer allegedly fell asleep on duty while working at the United Nations General Assembly. The officer was also accused of leaving his gun unattended while taking a bathroom break, RealClearPolitics National Political Correspondent Susan Crabtree reported.
The officer was relieved of his duties after top brass learned about the accusations. He was then placed on administrative leave as the Secret Service conducts a disciplinary review. A Secret Service spokesman confirmed to The Daily Wire that the Secret Service officer “was relieved of [his] operational duties immediately.”
“The U.S. Secret Service is aware of a September 25 incident where a Uniformed Division officer working security near the United Nations General Assembly in New York City reportedly engaged in unprofessional behavior, including leaving a firearm unattended for a brief time in a secure zone before returning to the weapon,” the spokesman said, adding, “The Secret Service has strict professional standards that all employees are expected to meet, and individuals who are found to have violated these standards will face disciplinary action.”
President Donald Trump spoke at the United Nations General Assembly just two days before the Secret Service incident. It’s unclear if that same officer was on duty the day Trump was present.
Unfortunately, the apparent security lapse at the UN was not an isolated incident. Several troubling instances in recent weeks involving the Secret Service have raised questions about the Service’s readiness.
In late August, a member of Trump’s golf club in Virginia made it past Secret Service screenings while carrying a gun. The member was never in the president’s vicinity, and later self-reported the gun to the Secret Service. But the incident served as yet another example of lapses in the agency tasked with protecting the most powerful man on earth.
In July, a Secret Service agent attempted to sneak his wife aboard a transport plane that was accompanying Trump to Scotland. A USSS Dallas agent reportedly flew his wife, a member of the Air Force, to Maryland, and she received an official Secret Service briefing on the trip. The agent’s wife then rode a bus to the distinguished visitor lounge at Joint Base Andrews, where she was finally discovered and told to leave.
Trump called the July incident a “weird deal,” adding, “Wouldn’t you think that might be a little dangerous?”
In another recent incident, the Secret Service faced criticism after protesters with the far-Left activist group Code Pink disrupted a dinner Trump was having with members of his Cabinet at a restaurant in Washington, D.C., in early September. The protesters got close to the president and were shouting at him before the Secret Service finally escorted them out.
Retired Secret Service agent Scott Bryan spoke to The Daily Wire about the latest Secret Service lapse.
“Failures can’t happen, but they will happen, and the Service has to be ready for that reality,” Bryan said. “Built-in redundancy is a security measure. In protection, you can only mitigate risk — you can’t eliminate it. That means preparing in advance, having contingency plans, and working relentlessly to win.”
Even before the lapses in the past three months, the Secret Service was facing an American public losing confidence in the agency’s abilities. The falling trust in the Secret Service began on July 13, 2024, when a man shot President Trump at a campaign rally from just 150 yards away, striking the president’s ear and missing what would have been a fatal headshot by centimeters.
Just two months later, another man allegedly attempted to assassinate Trump and was able to camp out in the hedge near the fence line while the president was golfing at his club in West Palm Beach, Florida. Thankfully, a Secret Service agent spotted the suspect and fired at him before the suspect could fire at the president.
The failures in Butler led to then-Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigning from her position on July 23, 2024, just one day after she faced intense grilling from lawmakers during a House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing. After Trump was sworn in earlier this year, he appointed Sean Curran to lead the Secret Service. Curran, a 24-year veteran of the agency, rushed on stage to protect Trump after he was fired upon in Butler.
With political violence in America becoming more of a problem, especially after the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk last month, the need for tightened security has only increased. Bryan told The Daily Wire that the new leadership in the Secret Service needs to return to the high standards that it once demanded in hiring and training.
Bryan said that recent lapses “aren’t just isolated mistakes,” adding, “They’re the byproduct of mediocrity becoming normalized in hiring, in leadership, in training, and in how assets are allocated. The only answer is to rebuild a flourishing culture that is grounded in mission, talent, and fair compensation.”
“Because just throwing bodies at the problem won’t work. If you hire the wrong people, or hire too fast, you end up with incompetence and dissatisfaction,” he continued. “The Service has to build a flourishing culture — one that leverages the prestige of the mission itself, while making sure only people of outstanding character, courage, and mental toughness are brought on board. Once you get the right talent, you have to compensate them fairly.”
Bryan added that the Secret Service needs to build a culture “that leverages the prestige of the mission itself, while making sure only people of outstanding character, courage, and mental toughness are brought on board. Once you get the right talent, you have to compensate them fairly.”