Secret Service Is Hemorrhaging Its Workers

Nearly 1 in 5 Secret Service staffers left the agency in 2022 and 2023, leaving it "unprepared" for a year in which a former president would face two assassination attempts, the New York Times reports, noting "even agents willing to take a bullet for the president were often unwilling to tolerate life at the agency that protects him." At least 1,400 of 7,800 employees jumped ship in "the largest outflow from the agency in at least two decades," with reasons for the "exodus" blamed on punishing overtime, which resulted in no additional pay after a certain point; perceptions of favoritism; dilapidated facilities; and a poorly conceived retiree program that pushed many agents into retirement "so they could be paid a salary and a pension at once," per the outlet.

In July 2023, then-director Kimberly Cheatle described the critical need to retain employees in an agencywide email. Yet resignations kept coming. The Secret Service had then been seeing "overwork causing departures, causing more overwork" for at least 10 years, per the Times. In a recent survey, 68 of 153 agents said they hit the pay cap for protective details ($221,145 in 2024), with some missing out on some $30,000 in overtime. In an effort to boost numbers, the agency lowered recruiting standards, but that meant taking on new hires who didn't fully understand the job and were more likely to quit, one agent said. The agency also took on a man who'd reportedly held a gun to his girlfriend's head, the Times reports.

The service also sought to welcome back retirees with a salary paid on top of their pensions, but that only led more agents to retire so they could benefit. And some agents say those who were brought back contributed little. One was reportedly put to work painting an office. Cheatle ultimately helped boost the service's numbers to 8,100, "its highest level ever," with bonuses and enhancing subsidized child care among the benefits, per the Times. But staffing levels remain below the goal for 2023, and a senior official tells the Hill that the agency is being pushed to its limits. CNN has also reported on what agents say is "a high-stress, high-intensity workplace beset by management and logistical issues." (More Secret Service stories.)