Have Diversity Hires Impacted the Secret Service’s Ability to Do Its Job?

The United States Secret Service is facing intense scrutiny for what may be the biggest security failure in more than two decades following an assassination attempt on former President Trump at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.

Some of the most pointed questions have to do with Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle’s focus on diversity hires over real protection work.

CBS News Report reveals what Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle has been focused on: diversity hires pic.twitter.com/IoKnY4uj6M

— Matt Batzel (@MattBatzel) July 14, 2024

Director Cheatle, in a CBS News interview in March, addressed some of the controversies and challenges facing the agency, saying:

“I’m very conscious as I sit in this chair now, of making sure that we need to attract diverse candidates and ensure that we are developing and giving opportunities to everybody in our workforce, and particularly women.”

The impulse to check off the proper boxes indicating a diverse workforce may be a signal of social progress but it cannot be allowed to overshadow the “zero-fail mission” of the Secret Service of keeping their protectees secure.

In this regard, the agencies must be a meritocracy of sorts which means hiring the most capable individuals, regardless of gender or race, who are utterly proficient in their mission.

Lowering standards for the sake of Diversity, Equity or Inclusion (DEI) can have life or death consequences.

There’s also the nagging question of why the Trump campaign’s requests for additional Secret Service resources were ignored by the Biden administration, and whether those resources were instead diverted to a Jill Biden event in Pittsburgh also held on Saturday.

This is the problem that my Secret Sources have cited: Secret Services resources were diverted to Jill Biden’s event and away from Trump’s because they followed agency protocol applying to Trump as a former president, according to two sources within the Secret Service community.… pic.twitter.com/9MzmS6Bia7

— Susan Crabtree (@susancrabtree) July 14, 2024

The questions continue to accumulate. When can we expect some answers?