U.S. Secret Service Protection Mission Funding and Staffing: Fact Sheet

U.S. Secret Service Protection Mission Funding and Staffing: Fact Sheet

U.S. Secret Service Protection Mission Funding and Staffing: Fact Sheet

November 25, 2014 (R43797)

Introduction

The U.S. Secret Service (USSS) has two broad missions, criminal investigations and protection. The protection mission, which is the focus of this fact sheet, covers the President, Vice President, their families, and candidates for those offices, along with the White House and Vice President's residence, through the Service's Uniformed Division. Protective duties also extend to foreign missions in the District of Columbia and to designated individuals, such as the DHS Secretary and visiting foreign dignitaries. Protection is defined as any activity that is directly related to the USSS mission of protecting the persons¹ and facilities² that are designated for USSS protection in statute or U.S. Code. These activities, as delineated in budgetary documents, include Protection of Persons and Facilities; National Special Security Events; Protective Intelligence Activities; White House Mail Screening; and Presidential Candidate Nominee Protection.

This fact sheet provides information on USSS funding and staffing because congressional attention has turned to the USSS and its operations due to several recent incidents.

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee held a hearing entitled "White House Perimeter Breach: New Concerns about the Secret Service," on September 30, 2014, which addressed a security breach on September 19th, where a person gained unauthorized entrance into the White House after climbing the perimeter fence, and previous incidents.³ The committee inquired if deficient protection procedures, insufficient training, inadequate funding, personnel shortages, or low morale contributed to these security breaches. Later, on the same day as the hearing, it became public knowledge that earlier in the year a private security contractor at a federal facility, while armed, was allowed to share an elevator with President Barack Obama during a site visit, in violation of U.S. Secret Service security protocols. The following day, October 1, 2014, USSS Director Julia Pierson resigned. These security breaches followed a series of confirmed and alleged incidents of misconduct by USSS agents. The House Appropriations Committee stated in the report accompanying the FY2015 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) appropriations bill that it was "deeply disappointed by recurring allegations of misconduct within the Secret Service. The committee withheld $20 million from the USSS management budget until they submit a report providing evidence that the USSS has addressed these confirmed and alleged incidents of misconduct.⁴

Specifically this fact sheet provides:

Annual Appropriations for the U.S. Secret Service, FY2004-FY2015 (Table 1);

U.S. Secret Service Obligations for Protective Mission Activities FY2004-FY2015 (Table 2);

Budget Authority for the U.S. Secret Service Protection Mission Activities, FY2014-FY2015 (Table 3); and

U.S. Secret Service Personnel Numbers, FY2014-FY2015 (Table 4).

For an in-depth discussion of the USSS and its missions, see CRS Report RL34603, The U.S. Secret Service: History and Missions, by [author name scrubbed].

Table 1. Annual Appropriations for the U.S. Secret Service, FY2004-FY2015

(Amounts in Millions of Dollars)

Fiscal Year

Request

Enacted

Difference

FY2015 USSS Total

$1,636

na

na

Protection Accounts

$973

na

na

FY2014 USSS Total

$1,546

$1,585

$39

Protection Accounts

$913

$920

$7

FY2013 USSS Totala

$1,601

$1,611

$10

Protection Accounts

$988

$985

-$4

FY2012 USSS Total

$1,699

$1,667

-$32

Protection Accounts

$1,073

$1,052

-$21

FY2011 USSS Total

$1,572

$1,515

-$56

Protection Accounts

$905

$879

-$26

FY2010 USSS Total

$1,490

$1,483

-$7

Protection Accounts

$854

$847

-$7

FY2009 USSS Total

$1,414

$1,413

-$1

Protection Accounts

$849

$841

-$8

FY2008 USSS Total

$1,399

$1,385

-$14

Protection Accounts

$867

$854

-$14

FY2007 USSS Total

$1,265

$1,277

$13

Protection Accounts

$732

$742

$10

FY2006 USSS Total

$1,204

$1,212

$8

Protection Accounts

$649

$651

$2

FY2005 USSS Total

$1,163

$1,175

$12

Protection Accounts

$642

$647

$5

FY2004 USSS Total

$1,124

$1,141

$17

Protection Accountsb

$1,051

$1,065

$14

Source: CRS analysis of congressional appropriations documents: For FY2004, H.Rept. 108-280 (accompanying H.R. 2555); for FY2005, H.Rept. 108-774 (accompanying P.L. 108-334); for FY2006, H.Rept. 109-241 (accompanying P.L. 109-90); for FY2007, H.Rept. 109-699 (accompanying P.L. 109-295); for FY2008, Division E of the House Appropriations Committee Print (accompanying P.L. 110-161); for FY2009, Division D of House Appropriations Committee Print (accompanying P.L. 110-329); for FY2010, H.Rept. 111-298 (accompanying P.L. 111-83); for FY2011, H.Rept. 112-331 (accompanying P.L. 112-74); for FY2012, H.Rept. 112-331 (accompanying P.L. 112-74); for FY2013, Senate explanatory statement (accompanying P.L. 113-6); for FY2014, the explanatory statement accompanying P.L. 113-76; and for FY2015, H.Rept. 113-481 (accompanying H.R. 4903).

Notes: Table displays rounded numbers, but all operations were performed with unrounded data; therefore, amounts may not sum to totals.

a. Enacted numbers for FY2013 include impact of across-the-board cuts in P.L. 113-6, but do not reflect the impact of sequestration.

b. The structure of USSS protection mission accounts was different in FY2004, including a much larger share of investigative mission costs than was done in later years. Direct comparison with later years is not advised.

Table 2. U.S. Secret Service Obligations for Protective Mission Activities FY2004-FY2015

(Amounts in Millions of Dollars)

Fiscal Year

Protection of Persons and Facilities

Protective Intelligence Activities

Presidential Candidate Nominee Protection

National Special Security Events

White House Mail Screening

Protection Mission Total

FY2004

$630

$46

-

$30

$16

$722

FY2005

$620

$52

-

$3

$16

$691

FY2006

$609

$56

-

-

$15

$680

FY2007

$894

$81

$12

-

$71a

$1,058

FY2008

$706

$53

$112

$1

$16

$888

FY2009

$743

$64

$46

$7

$28

$888

FY2010

$792

$70

-

$1

$20

$883

FY2011

$808

$68

$17

$6

$10

$909

FY2012

$846

$68

$78

$18

$18

$1,028

FY2013

$858

$67

$30

-

-

$955

FY2014 Estimate

$860

$67

-

$9

-

$936

FY2015 Estimate

$870

$68

$26

$5

-b

$969

Source: Compiled from the President's Budget Appendixes, FY2006-FY2015.

Notes: Table displays rounded numbers, but all operations were performed with unrounded data; therefore, amounts may not sum to totals.

a. FY2007 actual obligation data was taken from the FY2009 President's budget submission. This submission (Fiscal Year 2009 President's Budget Appendix, p. 482) lists the "White House Mail Screening" protection mission activities twice, with one showing an actual obligation of $41 million and another of $30 million. CRS is unable to determine if this is an erroneous submission or a reflection of previous unobligated funds.

b. White House mail screening is now part of "Protection of Persons and Facilities."

Table 3. Budget Authority for the U.S. Secret Service Protection Mission Activities, FY2014-FY2015

(All Amounts in Millions of Dollars)

Programs

FY2014 Enacted

FY2015 Request

FY2015 House-Reported

FY2015 Senate-Reported

Protection

$920

$973

$965

$965

Protection of Persons and Facilities

$848

$870

$868

$868

Protective Intelligence Activities

$67

$68

$68

$68

National Special Security Events

$5

$5

$5

$5

Presidential Candidate Nominee Protection

-

$26

$26

$26

Source: CRS analysis of the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Secret Service, FY2015 Budget Justification, H.Rept. 113-481, S.Rept. 113-198.

Note: Table displays rounded numbers, but all operations were performed with unrounded data; therefore, amounts may not sum to totals.

Table 4. U.S. Secret Service Personnel Numbers, FY2014-FY2015

Special Agents

Uniformed Division

APTa

USSS Total

Fiscal Year

FTE

Positions

FTE

Positionsb

FTE

Positions

FTE

Positions

FY2014

3,290

3,282c

1,316

1,346

1,773

1,750

6,379

6,378

FY2015d

-

3,396

-

1,497

-

1,774

6,572

6,667

Source: Email correspondence with U.S. Secret Service Congressional Liaison Office, and Workforce Planning Division.

Notes:

a. "APT" stands for Administrative, Professional, and Technical positions.

b. Uniformed Division position numbers are determined within the USSS and a "target" number of Uniformed Division officers are determined through an analysis and assessment of the Uniformed Division's work requirements.

c. Special Agent staffing position numbers are not broken down between protection and investigation divisions due to USSS's classification of this data as "Law Enforcement Sensitive."

d. USSS did not provide FY2015 FTE data for Special Agents, Uniformed Division, or APT. The USSS only provided an FTE total for the USSS for FY2015.

Footnotes

1.

18 U.S.C. §3056(a).

2.

84 Stat. 74-75 authorizes the USSS to secure the White House complex, the Vice President's official residence at the Naval Observatory, the Treasury Building, and foreign diplomatic missions in Washington, DC. 90 Stat. 2475 authorizes the USSS to temporarily secure the President's and Vice President's personally owned residences.

3.

U.S. Congress, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, White House Perimeter Breach: New Concerns about the Secret Service, 113th Cong., 2nd sess., September 30, 2014.

4.

H.Rept. 113-481, p. 86.