Hundreds of Secret Service agents maxed out on overtime

Kevin Johnson | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Secret Service director discusses agency priorities, 2016 challenges U.S. Secret Service Director Joseph Clancy talks about the last year at the agency, increased hiring and the passionate political campaigns.

WASHINGTON — At least 1,000 U.S. Secret Service agents, about a third of the agent workforce, already have maxed out annual overtime and salary allowances, a consequence of the contentious political season's unprecedented demands and the agency’s primary mission to secure the White House and its current occupants, according to agency records.

Some of the service’s most veteran agents, officials said, reached their combined compensation limits — a maximum of $160,300 — as early as June and were not eligible for overtime during the national political conventions, which the Secret Service secures, nor for the frenetic general election during which agents have provided round-the-clock protection for the candidates and their families.

The crushing workload and caps on compensation are raising fresh concerns among federal lawmakers as the agency seeks to move beyond the shadow of a series of past security breaches and agent misconduct.

“Agents are tapped out,’’ said Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings, the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which has closely examined the service's operations during the past two years.

“There has been so much activity related to the presidential campaign, they (agents) are now working and not getting paid for it. Congress cannot just stand on the sidelines and complain; we have to step in and do something.’’

Working conditions and morale have been persistent issues raised by federal lawmakers and independent reviewers since the first disclosures of problems at the agency four years ago. Those included the breach of the White House by a troubled Army veteran who barreled through the mansion's front door before he was stopped by authorities. The incident and other lapses prompted the resignation of Julia Pierson, the first woman to lead the agency, and the appointment of retired agent Joseph Clancy, who has directed the service since 2014.

A special investigative panel, formed after the White House breach, found that special agents and uniform officers worked "an unsustainable number of hours.''

While the service is now in the midst of the most ambitious hiring campaign in more than a decade, with the goal to add more than 1,000 agents and uniform officers, the responsibilities of the agency have not relented, as the past 12 months have been the busiest in its history.

"It's been an incredible sacrifice,'' Clancy said in an interview with USA TODAY, adding that the hiring program is running parallel with the enormous security effort required during the current tense political season, a stretch that has included the largely incident-free conventions in Philadelphia and Cleveland despite the high-anxiety that preceded them.

"We're really pushing because we've had to,'' Clancy said. "We couldn't sit back and say, 'Let's get through the campaign then we'll address other issues.' I know they (agents and officers) are sacrificing.''

The security effort, meanwhile, has had to account for "bolder'' crowds at campaign rallies and events, said the director, whose career with the agency dates to the Reagan administration.

"We've had six times where people have jumped over a bike rack, the buffer we set in front of the stage,'' Clancy said. "In years past, we wouldn't have that."

He said the aggressive behavior has required some alterations to the agency's protection plan.

"I won't go into all those changes," he said, "but we absolutely do change the way we post people or the number of people we have at a particular site. We always adjust.''

Even some of the agency's most vocal critics have taken notice of the service's recent security successes, but there is continuing concern about the cumulative effect of the ongoing staffing stresses with the security of the inauguration looming amid recent declarations by Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump that he may not accept the nation's verdict on Election Day.''

"They are under tremendous stress,'' said Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz, the Republican chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, "They (agents) are constantly on the road.''

Seeking to reduce the pressure, Chaffetz has sought support for eliminating the agency's cyber and investigative mission aimed at guarding the nation's financial institutions. That proposal, however, is strongly opposed by Clancy, who argues that the investigative skills developed as part of that mission only augment the agency's protective responsibility.

Although Chafftez said the recent, major security operations "went very well,'' there is lingering anxiety.

"It's stuff that's happening or not happening behind the scenes, that's what scares me.'' he said."

Cummings said the agency's recent performance, however, signals a positive move away from a "culture of complacency and mediocrity.''

"The question is, will we give (Clancy) the resources he needs to perform at the next level?'' the Maryland congressman said. "It's one thing to say it, it's another thing to do it. That's on us (Congress).''