Secret Service needs dramatic reform, not just more money: Gingrich

It’s going to take more than just money to resolve the critical problems and vulnerabilities at the U.S. Secret Service. — Image credit: Reuters

In the aftermath of several foiled assassination plots against former President Donald Trump, both Democrats and Republicans demanded more funding for the Secret Service, the hiring of more agents, and an investigation into how those attempts almost succeeded. The United States Secret Service is tasked with protecting U.S. government leaders regardless of party or ideology but has been plagued by a lack of staff and funding in recent years. The close calls on Trump’s life have alerted both Democrats and Republicans to these and other security vulnerabilities.

Watch the video above as Straight Arrow News contributor Newt Gingrich reviews these incidents and argues that while the Secret Service certainly does need more staff and funding, the agency must also revisit its hiring, training and operational policies as well.

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The following is an excerpt from the above video:

And I know from talking with a number of people that there are a huge number of very competent, very dedicated people, willing literally to risk their lives in order to protect the person that they’re assigned to. But unfortunately, the [United States Secret Service] has been allowed to decay. It’s going to take more than money. It’s going to take a serious revolution in management, focus on excellence, and commitment to meritocracy to get us back to the kind of Secret Service we need if we’re going to survive the people who are either brought in by the Iranians or just crazy local people who are deluded. And so it’s important to both fund the Secret Service and to dramatically reform it.

It was very interesting the other day when President Trump, who is often pretty partisan,

publicly thanked both Democrats and Republicans for passing additional funding for the Secret Service. And of course, having had two attempts in his life, he has a pretty deep reason to want the Secret Service to be strengthened. It’s been very troubling to me that for months and months, the Trump team kept saying to the Secret Service, we need more people on the ground, and only after what was almost a successful assassination in Butler, Pennsylvania, where I’ve always said I was providential that President Trump turned his head at exactly the right moment, and so he took a bullet that hit his ear, but it didn’t hit his head. If he had not turned at that very second, the bullet would literally have killed him. So you look at that, and all of a sudden the Secret Service is very anxiety ridden. Now, they were anxiety ridden for two very different reasons. The first is, frankly, on the ground, they just weren’t very good. They didn’t do the right kind of run through. They should have had a sniper up on that roof where the man took the shot from. They should have done a number of other things. The investigation so far have been bipartisan. I say this in praise of the Democrats who were equally concerned that the Secret Service, which historically had a very, very high standard and had done really, really well, it had clearly decayed as an organization, and they’re a little bit certain amount of Keystone cop behavior going on. They’re also affected by, to some extent, where the left wing hiring policies, where who you were was more important than what you could do, so that some of the people trying to protect the president, frankly, first of all, weren’t tall enough. I mean, Donald Trump’s a big guy, and you can’t protect him from a shooter if you you know, if you’re only reaching up to the middle of his chest. So there were a couple of things like that. But in addition, it was clear that they simply didn’t have the manpower to do the kind of project they should have. I’ve dealt with the Secret Service for over 20 years. In fact, when I became speaker, I hired the Chief of Staff of the secret of the Secret Service to come and take over the Capitol Police and modernize them and professionalize them. He did. His name was Bill living good. He did an amazing job and really taught me a lot about how well he had been trained by the Secret Service because he applied their techniques to train the people on the Capitol Police. And I know from talking with a number of people that there are a huge number of very competent, very dedicated people willing, literally, to risk their lives in order to protect the person that they’re assigned to, but unfortunately, the service has been allowed to decay. It’s going to take more than money. It’s going to take a serious revolution in management, focus on excellence and commitment to meritocracy, to get us back to the kind of secret service we need if we’re going to survive the people who are either brought in by the Iranians or just crazy local people who are deluded. And so it’s important to both fund the Secret Service and to dramatically reform it.

All right, we happy. All right. I.