Secret Service counter-sniper team drastically understaffed, putting protectees’ lives in danger

The U.S. Secret Service counter-sniper teams are drastically understaffed and are using overtime and less qualified marksmen to fill gaps in a security crisis that threatens the lives of those it protects, the Homeland Security Department's internal watchdog starkly warned Tuesday.

The report released by Inspector General Joseph Cufari is the latest signal that the agency that protects the president and vice president is still dealing with legacy shortcomings and strategic failures that were first exposed by the assassination attempt on President Donald Trump in July 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania.

"The United States Secret Service’s (Secret Service) Counter-Sniper Team (CS) is staffed 73 percent below the level necessary to meet mission requirements," the report starkly warned. "Failure to appropriately staff CS could limit the Secret Service’s ability to properly protect our Nation’s most senior leaders, risking injury or assassination, and subsequent national-level harm to the country’s sense of safety and security."

"Given its chronic understaffing, CS relied on overtime and leveraged personnel from other Department of Homeland Security components to meet mission requirements," the report added.

You can read the full report here:

The watchdog revealed that the Secret Service paid nearly a quarter million overtime hours to keep the counter-sniper team's staffed between 2021 and 2024.

The Secret Service also borrowed employees from other agencies during the 2024 election and Trump's inauguration in January, in some cases using marksmen that did not fully meet the criteria for the protection detail.

"Some counter snipers did not meet mandatory weapons requalification requirements," the report warned. "Counter snipers who missed mandatory weapons requalification sessions (i.e., retesting their ability to shoot accurately in the daytime and at night), nonetheless supported 47 of the 426 events (11 percent) attended by protectees in calendar year 2024."

The report included a response from the Trump-run Secret Service saying it agreed with the findings and was working to fix the personnel shortage quickly.