Independent Panel Report On Secret Service

“Bureaucratic, complacent, and static,” is how the independent panel created after the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania described the Secret Service.

In a report released Thursday, the panel says a similar incident could happen again unless the Secret Service undergoes “fundamental reform.”

The 51-page report is the work of a two-man, two-woman panel with vast law enforcement and homeland security experience under both Democratic and Republican administrations. They dedicated the report to Corey Comperatore, the volunteer firefighter killed at the July 13 rally.

Less than 24 hours after the shocking security failure at the rally in Butler, PA, President Joe Biden called for action.

“I've directed an independent review of the national security at yesterday's rally to assess exactly what happened,” Biden announced, “and we'll share the results of that independent review with the American people, as well.”

Three months later, the review is complete, with the panel stating in its cover letter, “[T]he Secret Service as an agency requires fundamental reform to carry out its mission. Without that reform, the Independent Review Panel believes another Butler can and will happen again.”

Calls for the agency's reform were loud and bipartisan on Capitol Hill in the days and weeks following the assassination attempt.

“If it’s not personnel, then it’s procedures and those procedures need to change,” said Rep. Josh Brecheen (R-OK2) the day after visiting the rally site with other members of the House Homeland Security Committee. “If it’s personnel or poor choices, we need to find out why those poor choices are being made.”

As it turns out, the panel says, the agency’s problems are rooted in both personnel and poor choices.

Among the U.S. Secret Service's overarching failures, the report cites a lack of clarity regarding who has overall security ownership for its protectees; a 'corrosive’ cultural attitude towards trying to 'do more with less'; a troubling lack of critical thinking; and a lack of cohesion between the Secret Service and the state and local law enforcement they partner with.

Recommended remedies include structural changes to help refocus on the Secret Service’s protective mission, a new leadership team from outside the agency, and new systematic training initiatives.

The report was sent to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who responded, in part:

“We will fully consider the Panel’s recommendations and are taking the actions needed to advance the Secret Service’s protection mission. These actions will be responsive not only to the security failures that led to the July 13, 2024 assassination attempt, but, importantly, to what the Independent Review Panel describes as systemic and foundational issues that underlie those failures. I commend Acting Director Rowe for his leadership and for proactively undertaking security enhancements, including those informed by the Secret Service’s internal Mission Assurance Review.”