House Republicans are seeking to fast-track legislation that would give presidential candidates the same level of Secret Service protection as sitting presidents receive, after two assassination attempts against former President Donald Trump, the GOP nominee.
According to House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., a bill is being brought to the House floor Friday, The Washington Examiner reported.
The measure, if passed, would apply the same protections to Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party nominee.
"This is not a partisan issue," House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters Tuesday. "We have a nominee for president that's probably the most threatened political figure in history."
The legislation was initially proposed this summer after the July 13 assassination attempt against Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania. It would have given Trump the enhanced Secret Service protections that President Joe Biden, who dropped out of the race on July 21, has as the sitting president.
However, after Sunday's attempt, House Republicans are calling for legislation that would offer Trump more protection.
The bill does not mention allocating more funding toward the Secret Service to pay for the added protection, but House Republican leaders say the agency's issues are not money-related.
Scalise told reporters that the Secret Service's problem is that it is "trying to carry out a woke agenda, focusing on the wrong things, and forgetting their main mission."
He added that Congress has increased the agency's budget, upon its request, every year since 2017.
"Clearly, they got more money," Scalise said. "It's about allocation."
Johnson told reporters Wednesday that not only is Trump a former president but Johnson said he believes Trump will be elected again in November.
"He's a candidate under the greatest threat of any candidate," he said. "I hope the White House will see the wisdom in that, and I hope that they'll do everything they can."
Republicans have also blamed Democrats for the two assassination attempts against Trump, saying that rhetoric has fueled the violence.
But Biden and Harris, along with other top Democrats, have decried political violence and the threats Trump has faced.
Biden has also said he'll ensure that "every resource" is available to protect his predecessor while he's on the campaign trail.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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