Recent Attempts on Former President President Trump’s Reflections on certain aspects of life have some House Republicans questioning whether the U.S. Secret Service (USSS) should remain under the control of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
“I think it’s something that we should consider — if we need to remove them from Homeland, make them an independent agency or make them answer to somebody else. I mean, their mission, I think, is completely different than a lot of the agencies under the Department of Homeland Security umbrella,” Rep. Michael Guest, R-Mississippi, vice chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, told Fox News Digital.
The Secret Service was founded in 1865 as a bureau of the Treasury Department to combat counterfeiting and was authorized by Congress in 1913 to provide full-time protection for the president. According to the agency’s websiteIt was transferred from the Treasury Department to the newly created DHS in 2003.
The agency faces a challenge a barrage of investigations Two assassination attempts against Trump followed. In July, Trump was wounded after a 20-year-old gunman opened fire at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, killing one attendee. Last weekend, authorities arrested a 58-year-old man who was waiting for Trump at his West Palm Beach golf course with an AK-47.
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Congress has focused investigation on the Secret Service after two failed attempts to assassinate former President Trump (Getty Images)
No legislative proposals have emerged on this specific issue, but several GOP lawmakers told Fox News Digital that these incidents have sparked broader discussion among some members about DHS in general.
“I think it highlights the extent to which, 20 years later, the wisdom of creating the Department of Homeland Security should be questioned,” he said. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas“Frankly, DHS, as a whole, is failing on many levels.
“This is not a testament to any line people. … But the top people in the bureaucracy, it’s killing us. … The Secret Service would be a step up.”
Florida Republican Rep. Byron Donalds said DHS being an “all-encompassing agency” is “not working.”
“I honestly feel that the Secret Service is not getting the attention or support it needs from (Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas), because his agency is so big. And I think there’s nothing wrong with breaking it up,” Donalds said. “And it’s not just about the Secret Service. This is border security. It’s the immigration process and everything else.”
Representative Chip Roy said this should spark discussion about DHS’s role in general. (Getty Images)
Donalds said it wouldn’t be possible to do so this year, but he suggested it could be pursued more seriously if Republicans maintain a majority in the House in November.
Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, recalled that, during his tenure in the White House Medical Unit, there was some discontent among agents about being transferred to DHS.
Jackson said, “When this first happened, I know for a fact — because I was around these people every day for 14 years while I was in the White House — they were not big fans of it. … When they were at Treasury, they were kind of a big fish in a small pond, and then when they joined this huge, you know, bureaucracy of DHS … they felt it diminished their value and their capabilities.”
Similarly, Florida Republican Rep. Greg Steube also told Fox News Digital that he “wouldn’t be opposed” to considering breaking up DHS.
General view of the fenced area near the sixth hole at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, where Ryan Routh was reportedly waiting for former President Trump on Sunday. (Peter Burke/Fox News Digital/Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office)
And Rep. Mark Alford, R-Mo., wrote on X in recent days, “We don’t need to spend more money on the U.S. Secret Service — we need new leadership.
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Alford said, “I believe we should move the USSS back under the Treasury Department, away from Homeland Security — which has become a political tool under Alejandro Mayorkas, the biggest liar since Pinocchio.”
However, several other House Republicans who spoke with Fox News Digital were either skeptical of the idea or said they had no such discussions.
“People say a lot of things, I don’t know if it’s without thinking, but that’s the way they say things – it’s just a thought process that they go through,” Trump said. task Force Chairman Mike Kelly, R-Pa. “There’s a structure in place now.”
Fox News Digital contacted the Secret Service and DHS for comment but did not receive a response before publication.
