Ex-Secret Service officer: Agency has become top-heavy with management as overworked agents flee

While the United States Secret Service is being scrutinized for security failures following the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, a former officer at the agency says underlying issues have lingered for a while. 

Former Secret Service officer Gary Byrne still Just the News that management at the agency has increased, while rank-and-file employees have left in droves. 

"The one thing it does do right is it protects its name, the Secret Service," Byrne said on a "Just the News, No Noise" TV show special with AMAC. "And each year it gets bigger and bigger [with] more management and less workers."

Byrne explained that the agency is very low in manpower due to bad employee treatment. Byrne is the author of a book titled "Secrets of the Secret Service: The History and Uncertain Future of the U.S. Secret Service."

"They always keep expanding their responsibilities and not their manpower," he explained. "And they end up treating their employees so bad ... that they leave in droves."

Byrne said the attempted assassination on Trump's life was able to happen because of incompetence and overworked employees. 

"When I left the Secret Service in [2003] to the Air Marshal Service, they lost 300 uniformed division officers in less than a year, because they kept telling them, 'if you don't like it, leave,'" he said. 

The Secret Service has come under scrutiny lately due to the security failures at the Trump rally in Butler County, Pennsylvania where the 45th president was shot in the ear. The gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, shot Trump in the ear, injured two people and killed one rally goer. 

Multiple members of Congress have called out the incompetence and negligence of the Secret Service and other federal agencies for security failures that happened that day. 

Three hearings took place this week on the investigation into the failures, with former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle and FBI Director Christopher Wray testifying at two of them. 

Cheatle resigned from her position shortly after her Monday testimony in front of the House Oversight Committee.

Byrne said that the agency needs "management realignment."

"They need more young agents," he said. "They need more uniformed division officers, and they need to train them up to the level....and they need to have enough manpower. All the training in the world doesn't do any good if you can't do refresher training."

He added that a lot of the agents are overworked and underpaid at the agency. "These guys are 25 year career people," Byrne said. "You can't work them 12 to 20 hours a day and six [to] seven days a week. It's not physically possible. I was there. I promise you. You will break."

The Secret Service has not responded to requests for comment at this time.