US House approves bill to strengthen protection for Presidential nominees

The Enhanced Presidential Security Act mandates the US Secret Service to use the same criteria for determining the number of agents needed to protect presidents, vice presidents, and major presidential and vice-presidential candidates.

Washington: The US House of Representatives on Friday unanimously approved a bill that aims to enhance Secret Service protection for the presidential nominees and their respective vice presidential candidates, days after the second assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump.

The vote was 405-0, demonstrating the bipartisan support for boosted security amid growing political violence ahead of the November election, Xinhua news agency reported.

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The Enhanced Presidential Security Act would require the US Secret Service to “apply the same standards for determining the number of agents required to protect presidents, vice presidents, and major presidential and vice presidential candidates”.

The first assassination attempt on Trump in Pennsylvania in July prompted former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to resign amid widespread outrage over the agency’s failure to prevent the incident, in which Trump was struck in the ear by a bullet. After that, the Secret Service allocated additional resources — not typically provided to someone in Trump’s position.

But the frequency and scale of Trump‘s events, as well as controversies around him, made the Secret Service’s job very challenging.

On Sunday, a man was arrested after a Secret Service agent spotted a rifle barrel sticking out of a fence at Trump International Golf Club in South Florida and “engaged” with him. Trump was unharmed in what appears to be the second assassination attempt within two months.

Although the House passed the measure with strong bipartisan support, it remains uncertain how the Senate will address the security issue.

Lawmakers from both the House and Senate are debating whether to allocate extra funding for the Secret Service in the temporary funding bill that Congress needs to pass by September 30 to prevent a government shutdown.

US President Joe Biden previously said the Secret Service needs “more help”.