Des Moines Sun

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and Senator Catherine Cortez Masto have reintroduced the bipartisan Providing Real Oversight and Transparency to Effectively Counter Threats (PROTECT) Act. The legislation seeks to require that all future United States Secret Service Directors be confirmed by the Senate and serve a single, 10-year term.

Grassley emphasized the importance of oversight for the Secret Service, stating, “The Secret Service Director is responsible for a critical agency where life and death are at stake. This agency and its leadership require serious congressional oversight to ensure they’re held to a very high standard, so that the failure we saw in Butler last year is never repeated. Our bipartisan PROTECT Act is a crucial step towards providing the American people the transparency and accountability they deserve from the Secret Service.”

Cortez Masto also highlighted the need for increased scrutiny: “The men and women of the Secret Service have an incredible responsibility, and we must support them and their work. Our bipartisan PROTECT Act will make the Secret Service Director a Senate-confirmed position with a ten-year term, ensuring the same level of oversight as other federal law enforcement agencies while protecting against politicization.”

This legislative effort follows an incident on July 13, 2025, when President Donald Trump was injured after an assailant opened fire at a campaign rally despite security measures provided by the USSS. One attendee died and two others were seriously injured during this event.

Currently, heads of several federal law enforcement agencies—including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), U.S. Marshals Service, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms (ATF), Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE), and Customs & Border Protection (CBP)—are already subject to Senate confirmation.