Photo: Alamy
Following the first assassination attempt against President Donald Trump, a bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced legislation to require the Secret Service to increase the level of protection for sitting presidents and major presidential candidates.
After the second attempt at the 45th president’s life on Sunday, the House brought the bill to a vote on Friday. It passed unanimously, with a final tally of 405-0 voting to elevate the legislation to the upper chamber.
However, the likelihood that the bill will head to Biden’s desk before the election is slim, according to ABC News.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., recently said that a potential increase in budget for the Secret Service could be included in the upcoming stopgap spending measure.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said on Wednesday, “Every year since 2017, Congress has added more money to the Secret Service’s budget than they even requested in their budget.”
“And so, it is not an issue of money. What they are doing with the money we’ve had a lot of serious questions about before the first assassination attempt,” he added.
The House also approved by unanimous consent to expand the jurisdiction of the Task Force investigating the first assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, to include the most recent assassination attempt at Trump International Golf Club in Palm Beach, Florida.
Following a Wednesday briefing from the Secret Service, Jason Crow, D-Colo., the ranking member of the Trump Assassination Task Force, told the media, “President Biden ordered the Secret Service to provide the same level of security to both Vice President Harris and to former President Trump, that would be a presidential level security commensurate with what the president would receive, and that that security is being provided, that’s our understanding.”
The House task force will hold a hearing over both assassination attempts on Thursday, with most of the focus placed on how the Secret Service relied on local law enforcement in Butler. The deadline for the task force’s final report is Dec. 13. Lawmakers will break in October to hit the campaign trail, which places an increased urgency for lawmakers to complete the report.
