Trump assassination attempt could reshape path for future Secret Service directors

Presidents are tasked with making a whopping 4,000 political appointments across the federal government, roughly 1,200 of which require Senate confirmation.

The director of the Secret Service, the agency tasked with protecting some of the most important U.S. political leaders, isn’t one of them. But that could soon change.

“We confirm everybody, like the deputy undersecretary to the elevators,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) told the Washington Examiner. “You’ve kind of got me by surprise there. I would have assumed that it would be a Senate-confirmed position already.”

Murkowski isn’t alone. It’s why the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump has spurred a bipartisan push for the Senate to add the position to its exhaustive list of confirmations.

Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) are lobbying their colleagues to pass a bill that would require any future Secret Service directors to receive confirmation and serve no more than a 10-year term after former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned Tuesday amid mounting bipartisan calls for her ouster.

“Our bill is a crucial step toward providing the transparency and accountability that Congress and the American people deserve from the Secret Service,” Grassley said.

Cortez Masto noted the proposal would “ensure the same level of oversight as other federal law enforcement agencies,” such as the FBI, CIA, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration, immigration enforcement and border patrol, and the U.S. Marshals.

The intrigue is particularly palpable among Republican senators, who are usually more likely to oppose increased layers of government but are especially incensed about their presidential nominee nearly being assassinated during a campaign rally.

Proponents say Senate confirmation would make directors more beholden to not just the White House but also Congress, which approves the Secret Service’s budget, which has swelled to more than $3 billion annually.

“I think it’s time for oversight review of the budget,” Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-SD) told the Washington Examiner. “There are some big picture issues about who answers to whom, and how they go about the work they do. It just seems like that’s lacking, and I think having somebody who is subject to more oversights and a confirmation process might fix that.”

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), who is running against Thune, and Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), who will be Sen. Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) successor as GOP leader, agreed.

“Clearly, what we’re doing now is not working,” Cornyn said. “It’s pretty shameful.”

Others, including Murkowski, are open to the prospect but haven’t previously considered it. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) said she was “open” to the idea because “there would be more accountability.”

But not everyone is on board. Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) appeared skeptical of senators’ ability to contribute significantly and was indifferent to changing the current process.

“I don’t know that we’re any better at making that evaluation than the administration,” he told the Washington Examiner. “I really don’t have an opinion on that. I don’t care one way or the other.”

Former Secret Service agent Tim Gobble, now on Tennessee’s Board of Parole, told the Washington Examiner that additional congressional scrutiny by way of Senate confirmation may not be a bad idea — so long as Washington politics doesn’t get in the way.

“As long as the process wasn’t politicized … and became a partisan fight, I don’t see a real problem with that,” Gobble said in an interview. “The Senate could handle it very similar to what they do with other agencies, and I think that it would probably, in the long run, be a positive thing for the Secret Service.”

A recent study by the nonpartisan Partnership for Public Service think tank warned that more appointees mean more unfilled positions due to an overwhelmed Senate. The number of roles requiring confirmation has ballooned by nearly 60% since 1960, per the group. Lower-level positions often take more than a year to be filled after a president’s inauguration.

The Washington Post’s Political Appointee Tracker, which keeps tabs on 817 of the roughly 1,200 confirmed positions in collaboration with the think tank, shows 96 roles currently have no nominees and 77 are awaiting Senate approval.

Both political parties are already behind on starting their possible transition planning, the think tank said this week. Transition support and resources from the General Services Administration will be available to the party nominees starting Aug. 27.

Republicans are currently fast-tracking the bipartisan legislation to get a write-off on their side of the aisle in the Senate Judiciary Committee, which it would need to clear before coming to the floor. Cortez Masto’s office did not respond to an inquiry about progress being made among Democrats.

The Senate departs for summer recess at the end of next week and won’t return until September. President Joe Biden has not yet installed a new Secret Service director.