Testifying before the House Oversight Committee on Monday, Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle noted that her agency maintains full-time protective details for 36 people.
That’s a large number. But the Secret Service also protects visiting heads of state, their spouses, and certain VIPs visiting the United States. The president can also issue an executive order assigning protection to other people. This begs the question as to whether the Secret Service is required to protect too many people and whether this limits its ability to protect those facing the greatest threat level. The recent assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump underlines why this is a significant concern.
There’s no question that Cheatle is under pressure following the Trump assassination attempt in Pennsylvania. Her position is weakened amid growing scrutiny of hiring and organizational “reforms” she has adopted as director. Still, excessive demand on the Secret Service’s resources is a concern that also needs confronting. Using publicly available information, I’ve been able to account for 28 people under Secret Service protection:
- President Joe Biden
2. First lady Jill Biden
3. Hunter Biden
4. Ashley Biden
5. Vice President Kamala Harris
6. Second gentleman Doug Emhoff
7. Ella Emhoff (stepchild of Harris)
8. Cole Emhoff (stepchild of Harris)
9. Former President Donald Trump
10. Former first lady Melania Trump
11. Former President Barack Obama
12. Former first lady Michelle Obama
13. Former President George W. Bush
14. Former first lady Laura Bush
15. Former President Bill Clinton
16. Former first lady Hillary Clinton
17. Former President Jimmy Carter
18. National security adviser Jake Sullivan
19. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen
20. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas
21. Former national security adviser John Bolton (under special protection due to Iran-related threats)
Biden has also granted all his grandchildren Secret Service protection.
- Natalie Biden
23. Robert Biden
24. Finnegan Biden
25. Maisy Biden
26. Naomi Biden
27. Beau Biden
(Considering that he has been hesitant to engage with her, it seems improbable that Hunter Biden’s daughter Navy Joan Roberts has Secret Service protection.)
Last week, Biden granted protection to independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. That makes 28. That still leaves eight people with full-time protection. Who are they?
Some likely contenders include White House chief of staff Jeff Zients and perhaps also White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. That gets us to 30. But the key point to note here is that all Secret Service details maintain a minimum of two agents on duty at any one time (normally, if not always, using at least two vehicles). And most details are larger, some very significantly so. An important question must thus follow.
Namely, is Secret Service protection always being assigned in response to assessed threats or national security concerns objectively? Alternatively, is Secret Service protection sometimes being assigned as a perk of proximity to power? Put simply, is protection sometimes being assigned because people enjoy being chauffeured around in armored vehicles and turning up at restaurants and social events with the accoutrement of well-dressed, earpiece-wearing, armed federal agents?
In sum, the nation needs a more objective structure for assigning Secret Service protection to people whose protection is not required by law. Rather than allowing the president to assign protection on a whim, protection should be assigned on the basis only of assessed threat. This is what happens in the United Kingdom, for example, where protective details are assigned or removed based on assessment by the Royal and VIP Executive Committee.
RAVEC is led by national security specialist civil servants and law enforcement officials. This allows for an objective rather than personally motivated provision of protective resources. While it should be noted that the U.K.’s approach to close protection is inadequate in resourcing and capability, the RAVEC model would benefit America.
After all, it’s possible to imagine that a RAVEC system would mean that the treasury secretary, the White House press secretary, and the other unknowns under protection might no longer receive it. And some people under Secret Service protection might otherwise be provided a less expensive form of protection from other sources. But even if these people still received Secret Service protection, we would at least know that protection was being provided for the right reasons.
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A more security-centric governing approach to Secret Service protection would provide clear benefits. It would reduce strains on an already overstretched workforce and free up protective equipment and capabilities that could be used to supplement standing protective details.
Yet pretending the Secret Service has all the resources it needs and that protection is being provided only where it is necessary isn’t just disingenuous. As we saw at that Pennsylvania rally, it’s downright dangerous.