Acting Secret Service director expresses concern over agents' morale amid security concerns

Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe Jr. on Thursday, expressed concern over the morale of his agents, who he claims are currently being overworked due to a series of operational and policy changes.

Rowe said he is concerned about the mental health and wellness of his agents, who are working long hours and are "demoralized" after the agency came under heat over its failure to prevent an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump in July. 

“We are redlining our people,” Rowe told NBC News host Lester Holt. “We are asking them to do extraordinary things right now.” 

The concern comes shortly after an independent panel investigating the July 13 assassination attempt found that the agency is in need of "fundamental reform." The panel suggested the agency establish a new leadership team, create a central communications hub for major events, and require additional training and overhead surveillance for outdoor events.

Rowe has admitted that the Secret Service failed in its mission in July, and that reforms are already taking place, such as increasing Trump's security detail to equal that of a sitting president, modernizing technology, increasing personnel, and creating a new training plan. 

“We’ll continue to work with the department to look at those recommendations that are actionable and feasible to make changes in the Secret Service,” he said. “But we have not been sitting back waiting for reports like this to come out.”

The acting director also claimed that applications to join the Secret Service are up and 400 people are already in various training stages.

Misty Severi is an evening news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.