U.S. Secret Service Claims Run Out of Money Because of Trump

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The US Secret Service, are claiming to have run out of money to pay the salaries and overtime of its agents since Donald Trump came to power.

The large number of the Trump family members and the high frequency of their travels make the budget that should be exhausted by the end of the year, has reached its limit in just eight months since Trump was president.

"More than 1,000 agents have already hit caps for the year on salary and overtime pay because of the crushing workload,” said Randolph "Tex" Ailes, US Secret Service Chief, in an exclusive interview with USA Today on Monday, August 21, 2018.

The expenditure was not only to pay salaries, but also the overtime payload due to the increased workload.

Overall, 42 people in the Trump Administration are covered by the Secret Service, including 18 members of his family. Meanwhile, when Obama served as president, Secret Service only covered 32 people.

"The president has a big family, and our responsibilities are required by law," Ailes said. "I can not change it, I have no flexibility."

During his tenure as President, Trump has traveled almost every weekend to his properties in Florida, New Jersey and Virginia. To rent a golf cart every Trump weekend trip, the Secret Service must spend up to US $60,000.

The Secret Service also provides protection for all the children and grandchildren of the president on their business and leisure trips. For example, earlier this year Eric Trump's business trip to Uruguay spent a Secret Service budget of nearly US $ 100,000 just to rent a hotel room.

With plans for the arrival of 150 foreign heads of state who will attend the UN General Assembly in New York next month, the agency's work will again grow.

"This issue is not a problem that can be tied to current government protection requirements alone."

"But it has been a continuing issue for nearly a decade because of the overall increase in the operating tempo," said Ailes.

Ailes, who is now seeking more funds from Congress, said he was in negotiations with MPs to raise salaries and overtime wages.

The expectation of the cost of salary and overtime wages of Secret Service agents who currently earn $ 160,000 US dollars per year, could be $ 187,000, for at least the remainder of Donald Trump's term. Nor can it meet the overtime owed debt.

USA TODAY | THE WASHINGTON POST | SITA PLANASARI AQUADINI