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House lawmakers are set to put forth a measure on Friday that will boost Secret Service protection for presidential candidates.
Following the first attempt to assassinate President Trump, Reps. Mike Lawler, D-N.Y., and Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., introduced legislation to require the agency to “apply the same standards for determining the number of agents required to protect Presidents, Vice Presidents, and major Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates.”
A similar version of that bill will come to the floor on Friday, according to Axios. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., confirmed that the vote will take place, but it is unknown whether the measure will be taken up in the upper chamber.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said on Monday that “Congress has a responsibility to ensure the Secret Service and all law enforcement have the resources they need to do their jobs.” He also mentioned including additional funding for the Secret Service in the upcoming stopgap spending bill. Schumer has not yet indicated support for the House-led bill to change Secret Service policy.
Meanwhile, in the House, Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., has refused to withdraw his bill that would strip Trump of all Secret Service protection.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., called attention to the matter on the House floor. She slammed Thompson in a Wednesday post on X.
“Democrats should be held accountable not only for their rhetoric but also for their actions. Bennie Thompson refuses to withdraw his bill that would leave President Trump unprotected from would-be assassins even after two attempts on Trump’s life in just two months. Bennie Thompson must be censured,” Green wrote.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., mentioned the potential increase in funding for the Secret Service but refused to say whether he would support his colleagues’ measure to require increased protection.
Instead, Jeffries punted to Biden, according to Axios. He told reporters that Biden “has made clear that every available resource is going to be made available to Donald Trump’s campaign, and that’s the right way to go.”
The number of Democrats who choose to vote for Lawler and Torres’s legislation on Friday will shed light on whether they truly care about preventing a country-changing tragedy.