The United States Secret Service (USSS) was created on July 5, 1865 in Washington, D.C., to suppress counterfeit currency crimes after the War Between the States.

After the assassination of President William McKinley in 1901, Congress assigned to the secret service the responsibility of the protection of the President of the United States. The FBI, the ATF, and the IRS each evolved out of other responsibilities that the Secret Service originally performed. The Secret Service now has financial crimes and protection as its two assignments. The big problem for the USSS is that it is now losing personnel faster than they can be replaced. It does not appear that the protection details have over taxed the agency, it seems to be in the Uniformed part of the Secret Service. There are over a dozen categories of personnel that the USSS is now authorized to protect. Only the President, President Elect, Vice President, and Vice President Elect cannot refuse the protection of the USSS. You can read more about the responsibilities and history of the USSS in the Wikipedia article HERE.

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As Written By JOEL GEHRKE at the Washington Examiner:

Lawmakers say Secret Service running out of agents

Two lawmakers claimed Tuesday that the U.S. Secret Service may need to seek outside help to fulfill its mission because agents are leaving the agency faster than they can be replaced.

“USSS simply cannot hire enough personnel to keep pace with historic attrition rates,” House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, and ranking Democrat Elijah Cummings of Maryland noted in a Tuesday letter to Secret Service director Joseph Clancy.

“The committee encourages USSS to explore innovative ways to fill this staffing gap-such as detailing qualified law enforcement officials or [administrative, professional, and technical] employees from other agencies-in the short-term while continuing its long-term efforts to develop a zero-based budget and increase hiring and retention,” they wrote.