Introduction

The USSS conducts two mandated missions—criminal investigations and protection of persons and facilities. The criminal investigation mission (focused primarily on financial crimes) is the USSS's oldest mission; however, the protection mission receives the most public and media attention. The protection mission includes providing security for specific government officials and facilities.¹ The USSS is statutorily directed to protect the following individuals:²

• the President, the Vice President,³ the President-elect, and the Vice President-elect;
• the immediate families of those listed above;
• former Presidents and their spouses for their lifetime;⁴
• children of a former President who are under 16 years of age;
• visiting heads of foreign states or governments, and other distinguished foreign visitors to the United States and official representatives of the United States performing special missions abroad when the President directs that such protection be provided;
• major presidential and vice-presidential candidates and, within 120 days of the general presidential election, the spouses of such candidates;⁵ and
• former Vice Presidents, their spouses, and their children who are under 16 years of age, for a period of not more than six months after the date the former Vice President leaves office.⁶

Separate from protecting specific mandated individuals and facilities such as White House complex, the Vice President's official residence at the Naval Observatory, the Treasury Building, and foreign diplomatic missions in Washington, DC,⁷ the USSS is also responsible for security activities related to National Special Security Events (NSSEs), which include inauguration ceremonies, major party quadrennial national conventions, as well as some international conferences and events⁸ held in the United States.

This fact sheet provides information on USSS funding and staffing related to the USSS protective mission described above.

Specifically, this fact sheet provides

• Annual Appropriations for the U.S. Secret Service, FY2016-FY2025 (Table 1, Figure 1, and Figure 2);
• USSS Protection-specific Funding, FY2016-FY2025 (Table 2 and Figure 3);
• USSS Funding for Presidential Campaigns and National Special Security Events, FY2025 (Table 3 and Figure 4); and
• USSS End-of-Year Staffing, 2008-2023 (Table 4 and Figure 5).

Protection Mission Funding and Staffing

The following tables and figures provide data on USSS total and protection-specific funding, USSS protection-specific operations and support programs funding, presidential campaign and NSSE funding, and end-of-fiscal year staffing.

The USSS does not provide detailed public reporting on its use of funding and personnel for protective missions, and staff move back and forth between protection and criminal investigation activities as duties require. Therefore, CRS has used two specific subdivisions of appropriations made in appropriations detail tables to identify funding specifically requested by the White House and directed by Congress to the USSS protection mission: Protective Operations, within the USSS Operations and Support appropriation; and Protection Infrastructure, within the Procurement, Construction, and Improvements appropriation.⁹

Figure 1. Total USSS Appropriations FY2016-FY2025 Request (Thousands of $ in Nominal Budget Authority)

Source: CRS analysis of appropriations bills and reports.

Figure 2. USSS Protection-Specific Funding FY2016-FY2025 Request (Thousands in $ of Nominal Budget Authority)

Source: CRS analysis of appropriations bills and reports. Notes: Protection-specific programs included in this total are Operations and Support / Protective Operations, and Procurement, Construction and Improvements / Protection Infrastructure. Other USSS funding contributes to the protective mission as well, including mission support and research and development efforts, but usage of specific amounts of those funds cannot be authoritatively attributed by CRS. Due to restructuring of appropriations accounts in FY2017, a comparable breakdown of Protection-specific activities is not possible for FY2016 or earlier.

Figure 3. Funding for USSS Protection-Specific Operations and Support Programs FY2016-FY2024 (Thousands of $ in Enacted Amounts)

Source: CRS analysis of appropriations bills and reports. Notes: Other USSS Operations and Support funding contributes to the protective mission as well, but usage of specific amounts of those funds cannot be authoritatively attributed by CRS.

Figure 4. USSS Appropriations for Presidential Campaigns and National Special Security Events FY2016-FY2025 Request (Thousands of $ in Requested and Enacted Amounts)

Source: CRS analysis of appropriations bills and reports. Note: Due to restructuring of appropriations accounts in FY2017, a comparable breakdown of Protection-specific activities is not possible for FY2016 or earlier.

Figure 5. USSS Total Staffing (As of the end of Fiscal Years 2008-2023)

Source: CRS Analysis of OPM FedScope Data.