The Secret Service has Launched One of the most Ambitious Hiring efforts in its History, seeking to bring on Thousands of Agents and Officers to ease Strain on its Overstretched Workforce and prepare for Multiple Major Events in 2028, including the Ppresidential Election and the Olympics. Service Leaders say they want to Hire 4,000 New Employees by 2028, a Surge that Law Enforcement Experts say has No Clear Precedent and Reflects mounting concerns about Staff Burnout, a Loss of Experienced Agents and a relentless Operational Tempo. The added Staff would make up for Expected Retirements and Increase the Size of the Agency by about 20%, to more than 10,000 for the First time.
Under a Plan led by Deputy Director Matthew Quinn (R), the Service aims to Expand its Special Agent Ranks from about 3,500 to about 5,000. Officials also want to Add Hundreds of Officers to the Uniformed Division, for a Total of about 2,000, and Hire Additional Support Staff. The figures have Not been previously Reported. The Agency faces Serious Obstacles, however, including a Shortage of Qualified Candidates; Competition with other Law Enforcement Agencies, especially in Immigration Enforcement, Bottlenecks in Hiring, and Training, according to Officials.
A previous Attempt to reach 10,000 Employees over a roughly 10-year period ending in 2025, Failed, as the Agency Struggled with Leadership Turnover and Disruptions from the Coronavirus Pandemic, among other Issues. The Sservice fell far Short of Recruitment and Retention Goals, despite Offering some of the Biggest Financial Incentives of any Federal Law Enforcement Agency. “Our mindset is, we aren’t going to pay our way out of this,” said Quinn, a longtime Secret Service Official who returned to the Agency in May, after several years in the Private Sector. “We can’t create enough incentives to negate the fact that we’re working our people very, very hard.”
Quinn said He and Secret Service Director Sean Curran (R), the former Head of Trump's (R) Protective Detail, have set out to make Hiring a Top Priority, Second Only to Protection. Senior Administration Officials have backed them, He said. “The protective mission has expanded,” He said. “Our numbers are low to meet those needs. We have to achieve what we said we were going to do 10 years ago. We’ve got to achieve it now.”
Agency Officials want to Improve the Quality-of-Life in the Service, by Shortening Hours and Reducing Time on the Road for Officers and Agents, many of whom spend months each year Traveling on Protective Assignments. A Larger Staff could also allow the Secret Service to Lean Less on other Law Enforcement Agencies for Help securing High-Profile Events, giving it Tighter Control over Venues. Poor Communication with other Agencies played a Major Role in the Service’s most Publicized Failure in recent years, the attempted Assassination of Trump in 2024 at a Campaign Rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
“They are going to have to eliminate all the management and red-tape barriers,” said Janet Napolitano (D), a former Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Service’s Parent Agency. “They have to be able to swiftly recruit, maintain quality and train that number of new agents. They’re going to have to turn headquarters into a hiring machine.” In 2024, Napolitano helped Lead a Bipartisan Investigation of the Secret Service Failures that led to the Butler Assassination Attempt, the First time a President or former President had been Fired upon since 1981.
Others said even more Modest Hiring Targets could be a Stretch on such a Short Timeline. Getting Hired and Ttrained for a Job in the Secret Service is a Llong, Strenuous and heavily bureaucratic process, even by federal government standards. It involves multiple rounds of interviews, an intensive background check and a notoriously, Rough, Ppolygraph Test, that Officials say Screens-Out some otherwise Strong Candidates. All of those Steps place Heavy Demands on already Uunderstaffed Field Offices, according to a Former Secret Service Executive familiar with the Process. The Former Executive said it was Difficult to see how the Agency could Clear those Hhurdles while Significantly Expanding the Workforce.
“I hope they have success in getting those numbers as much as anybody, but it’s not realistic,” said another Former Senior Official, who Retired recently. “There’s no part of law enforcement that’s not struggling to hire.” Service leaders are adamant that they are not lowering standards to meet their goals. Some service officials had floated the possibility of curtailing or suspending the investigative portion of agent training, focusing only on the protective portion of the service’s mission, according to people familiar with the discussions. But Quinn said that was out of the question. “Investigations are the lifeblood of this organization,” He said.
Instead, Officials say, they have found ways to Speed the Process. In November, the Service held the First of what Officials expect to be Multiple Accelerated Hiring Events in which Candidates complete Assessments over several Days, including a Physical Fitness Test, a Security Iterview, and a Full Polygraph. Historically, those Assessments have taken Months, according to Delisa Hall (R), the Secret Service’s Chief Human Capital Officer. About 350 Candidates out of nearly 800 who Attended the First Event Advanced to the Next Phase. . “It’s becoming evident that this may be our new normal to push applicants through,” She said.
Agency Officials say they have Compressed the Timeline for a Job Offer down to less than a year, from the previous 18 months or more, and hope to Cut the Timeline by roughly another Four Months. The Long wait in the Past has led some Candidates to Withdraw or take Positions with other Agencies that moved more quickly. Hall said the Agency is Recruiting from the Military, College Athletes and Law Enforcement, and it’s Staying more Engaged with Applicants to keep from Losing People along the way.
Getting New Hires Trained and Field-Ready on time, could also present Challenges as the Secret Service races to Staff Up. Officials say the Service has Secured 42 Classes at the Federal Government’s Main Training Center for Law Enforcement Agents in Glynco, Georgia, for the 2026 Fiscal year. All the Service’s New Agents and Officers must Undergo Basic Ccriminal Investigator Training at the Facility, known as FLETC, for about Three Months alongside Recruits from other Agencies.
The Campus is expected to remain Packed for the Foreseeable Future with Recruits from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other Immigration Agencies Hired as part of the Trump Administration’s Crackdown. Secret Service leaders say they have not had to compete for space. But several Former officials said they worry the service’s recruits could take a back seat to training for ICE or the Border Patrol, both of which are hiring aggressively.
The pressure on the agency will only mount as 2028 approaches. Some in the Secret Service have privately referred to the year as “Armageddon” because of the extraordinary security demands posed by the election and other major gatherings, including the Los Angeles Olympics, the first Summer Games in the United States since Atlanta in 1996. The workforce carrying out the mission could look dramatically different from the last election cycle. Many experienced agents have departed for other agencies or jobs in the private sector in recent years. Others from a large cohort hired in the years surrounding the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks may not stay for another breakneck campaign.
“About a third of the workforce will be retirement-eligible before the start of 2028,” said Derek Mayer, a Former deputy special agent in charge of the Secret Service’s Chicago field office. “That’s definitely a cause for concern. There were periods during hiring freezes in the 2010s when we didn’t hire anyone. When that happens, it does hurt, but it hurts five or 10 years later.” With Trump Term-Limited, both Major Parties are expected to have Competitive Primaries, raising the Number of People the Service will have to Protect. The Eventual Nominees, their Running Mates, and their Spouses will receive Full-Time Secret Service Ddetails.
The Agency is also Tasked with Co-Ordinating Pprotection around the 2028 Summer Olympics and Paralympics, Scheduled during the last Two Weeks of July, and the last Two Weeks of August. No matter what, I don’t care how successful we are,” Quinn said, “it’s still going to be a rough summer.”
Michael H. Drucker
