A scathing report by an independent task force commissioned by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to investigate the first Trump assassination attempt has called for a radical overhaul of the Secret Service’s leadership. The agency, the panel argues, has become “bureaucratic, complacent, and static” despite the increasing risks and evolving technology.
The 52-page report, which reviewed 7,000 documents and conducted 58 interviews, found a “troubling lack of critical thinking” among agents and supervisors on the day of the attempted assassination. The panel was particularly critical of senior-level personnel who failed to take responsibility for the security failures and refused to engage in self-reflection to identify areas for improvement.
“The Secret Service has become insular and stale,” said Janet Napolitano, a panel member and former Homeland Security secretary. “It’s time to break out and bring in fresh talent from outside the agency to take a new look at how they do things.”
The panel, which included Frances Fragos Townsend, David Mitchell, and Mark Filip, found that the site agent in charge of security at the Butler fairgrounds was inexperienced, having only graduated from the Secret Service academy in 2020 and joined Trump’s detail in 2023. This inexperience was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the agency’s reduced operational tempo.
Another agent, who was assigned to operate a drone detection system, was found to be lacking in experience and technical competence. Despite only formally deploying such technology at two previous events, he was tasked with operating the system on the day of the rally. The equipment was inoperable due to technical difficulties, and the agent spent hours trying to fix the issues.
The report highlights these examples as demonstration of the potential role that inexperience played in the security failures. The panel concluded that the Secret Service needs to bring in fresh talent from outside the agency to address these deficiencies and prevent similar tragedies from occurring in the future.
Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe responded to the report, saying that the agency will carefully examine the recommendations and work to implement them. The report’s release comes after President Joe Biden directed Mayorkas to form an independent panel to review the security provided by the Secret Service to Trump on the day of the attempted assassination. The panel’s purpose was to examine what happened and provide actionable recommendations to prevent similar incidents in the future.
The Secret Service has already announced changes it plans to implement, including expanding the security perimeter and assigning additional manpower. However, the report’s findings and recommendations suggest that more fundamental changes are needed to address the agency’s bureaucratic and complacent culture.
