Chairman's Lobby: Same question

The question is always the same.

In the aftermath of the massive Hurricane Sandy that hit the northeastern United States,

Or the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore.

Or after the second assassination attempt on the former president.

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Do they have sufficient funding and resources?

Will the federal government provide enough money to help New York City and the Northeast rebuild after a massive hurricane slammed into the most densely populated areas of the U.S. Mudslides destroyed roads and bridges in Vermont. The storm flooded subway stations in New York.

What will it take to rebuild Baltimore's bridges? The money will come due in a year or two.

After a gunman tried to open fire on former President Trump while he was playing golf at Trump International in Palm Beach, Florida, questions are now being asked about the Secret Service: Does it have the funding? Does it need more resources?

Secret Service Acting Director Ronald Rowe said the agency has “been doing more with less for decades,” adding that “there is an urgent need right now.”

President Biden agrees.

“Let me be clear: The (Secret) Service needs more help, and if they truly need more services, I believe Congress should meet their needs,” the president said.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York agreed.

“We all have to do our part to make sure this never happens again, and that means Congress has a responsibility to ensure the Secret Service and all law enforcement agencies have the resources they need to do their jobs,” Schumer said. “If the Secret Service needs more resources, we're prepared to provide them, perhaps in a future funding agreement.”

This is a reference to a stopgap spending bill aimed at averting a government shutdown scheduled for later this month.

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But on Fox News, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, questioned whether this was just a question of funding, arguing it was a problem specific to former President Trump and a manpower issue.

“He's been attacked the most, he's been threatened the most, he's been threatened probably more than he's ever been in the Oval Office,” Johnson said on Fox. “So the House is requesting that he have every asset available to him, and more if necessary. I don't think this is a funding issue. I think this is a personnel allocation issue.”

By Tuesday, Johnson had cooled on the idea of ​​funneling additional funds to the Secret Service.

“We don't just want to pour more money into a broken system,” Johnson said.

Other conservatives spoke out in favor of increasing funding for the Secret Service.

Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey B. Veltri of the FBI's Miami Field Office, Acting Director of the U.S. Secret Service Ronald Rowe Jr., and Sheriff Rick Bradshaw of the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office attend a press conference regarding the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, in West Palm Beach, Florida, on September 16, 2024. The FBI and U.S. Secret Service are investigating the incident along with the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, and the FBI stated that it “appears to be an assassination attempt” on former President Trump while he was golfing at Trump International Golf Club. (Joe Raedl/Getty Images)

“We don't need more funding for the Secret Service. We need new leadership,” Rep. Mark Alford (R-Missouri) said on Fox Business.

“More than the Secret Service needs funding, we need answers. In the real world, if you don't do your job, you get fired. In the Washington world, common sense is illegal. If you don't do your job, you get more funding because clearly you need it. There's not enough funding,” said Sen. John Kennedy, R-Louisiana. “What the Secret Service needs to do now is simple: try harder.”

There were also rumors that lawmakers might try to inject funding for the Secret Service by tying it to a yet-to-be-decided stopgap spending bill in order to avert a government shutdown in two weeks.

Rep. Corey Mills, R-Fla., who called on former President Trump to abolish the Secret Service and bring in private security, blasted the idea.

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“The American people are not stupid. They see the situation for what it is. They're trying to attach a fancy bill to this CR and get it passed, but the reality is, that's not really what we need. We need to stop the irresponsible spending,” Mills said on Fox Business.

“No, no, no, no. We don't need more funding,” said Republican Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas. “They have enough people and enough funding. They need to prioritize where they put Secret Service agents.”

But finding the right people and assigning the right tasks to the right places can be a challenge.

“You can't just hire them off the street,” argued Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the Senate Majority Whip.

In a House hearing before she resigned following the Butler, Pennsylvania, shooting, former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle testified that 9,500 officers were needed, even though the agency had only 8,000 officers.

U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle testifies before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee about the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump during a campaign event in Pennsylvania, at the Capitol, Monday, July 22, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey Jr.)

Still, some Republicans were sympathetic to injecting funds into the agency.

“It looks like they need more resources,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-Fla., adding that former President Trump had suggested a larger force was needed. “There's only one way to do that, and that's to put enough money into it and hire enough investigators, if you can find enough people willing to do it.”

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), who chairs the Senate committee that oversees the Secret Service's budget, argues that the threat environment is so dangerous that lawmakers are asking the Secret Service to get “creative” about ensuring it has adequate resources to protect its citizens.

The House of Representatives is on the brink of rejecting a stopgap spending plan that Johnson is pushing to fund the government through next spring, which would also require proof of citizenship to vote. The measure is likely to be defeated, so the Senate may counter with a direct bill to fund the government that would add support for the Secret Service.

Johnson denied that he would be “stuck” by the Senate if the House failed. But let's not forget that Jane's Addiction members are on good terms with some House Republicans. Johnson doesn't have enough votes to pass his bill. So if the Senate introduces a bill with the backing of the Secret Service, the House may be forced to accept it to avoid a government shutdown.

“If more money is part of the solution, I'm for it,” said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). “It would be politically foolish to do that right before an election, because it would be reprehensible, for sure.”

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) speaks to reporters after meeting with Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 4, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) (Associated Press)

So it's the same question that arises in every crisis: Can money solve the problem? It's no surprise that Congress often responds with money. The spending power is the ultimate power in Congress.

Would more dollars help?

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If Congress spends the money and no more security breaches occur, lawmakers will argue that the additional funding has worked.

But if Congress spends the money and something else happens, there will likely be more money spent.