FOX Original Report: Republican senators are calling on the Secret Service to step up security for former President Donald Trump following the second assassination attempt on him in just over two months.
“It is essential that USSS units assigned to President Trump be given additional protective resources, including increased personnel, to provide greater coverage,” Sens. Roger Marshall (R-Kansas) and Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama) wrote in a letter to Acting Secretary Ronald Lowe on Tuesday.
The second assassination attempt took place on Sunday at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, where the former president plays. The suspect, Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, was arrested after allegedly shoving an AK-47 through a chain-link fence surrounding the course.
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Republican senators are calling for increased Secret Service protection for former President Donald Trump. (Reuters)
Secret Service officers opened fire after the suspect was seen holding a gun, and Routh fled in a black Nissan before being arrested.
Senators Marshall and Tuberville, along with six other senators, including Senators James Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana), Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), called on Senator Rowe and the Secret Service to “designate President Trump as a protected person with the same level of protective resources provided to a sitting President.”
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Additionally, they called for “a briefing to members of Congress and staff regarding the attempt on President Trump's life, the ongoing threat landscape, and how the USSS will continue to successfully execute its mission without failure.”
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The suspect was shown being arrested and taken away by authorities in Florida on suspicion of attempting to assassinate former President Donald Trump. (Martin County Sheriff's Office)
Additionally, they asked the Acting Secretary to respond within 10 days to several questions, including what additional protective resources have been allocated following the July 13 assassination attempt and what steps the USSS has taken to further enhance protection for President Trump.
Republicans pointed to a statement by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in July suggesting there had been a “significant physical and technological buildup” after the initial attack.
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On July 13, 2024, former President Donald Trump was photographed being escorted off stage at a campaign event at the Butler Farm Show in Butler, Pennsylvania, with blood running down his face and surrounded by Secret Service agents. (Rebecca Droke/AFP via Getty Images)
The senators pointed to statements made by President Biden this week, in which he argued he had directed his administration to “ensure that the Secret Service has all the resources, capabilities and safeguards necessary to ensure the continued security of the former President.”
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“What additional protection resources will this order allocate and how will the USSS further ensure President Trump's protection?” they asked.
DHS and the Secret Service did not immediately comment to Fox News Digital.
