Secret Service nearing spending limit for protecting Trump: report

The Secret Service is nearing its spending limit for protecting President Trump and his family, the agency’s director told USA Today.

Secret Service Director Randolph Alles said that 1,000 agents have already hit their annual salary and overtime limits. Alles added that he is in discussions with lawmakers to increase the pay caps for agents from $160,000 to $187,000 per year.

The increased spending is due in part to Trump’s frequent travel from the White House to his properties along the East Coast. He returned to Washington late Sunday from a “working vacation” at his New Jersey golf club.

More than $6.6 million in taxpayer money has gone into protecting Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida since he took office in January, USA Today reported, with each of his trips costing an estimated $1 million.

Trump’s family also is a factor.

{mosads}”The president has a large family, and our responsibility is required in law,” Alles told the newspaper. “I can’t change that. I have no flexibility.”

The Secret Service protects 42 members of the Trump administration, according to USA Today, including 18 members of the president’s family. Thirty-one people were protected during the Obama administration, by comparison.

Trump’s family has put a strain on the Secret Service since it began protecting him during the presidential race, with coverage for his adult children and their families. 

Trump’s son, Eric, made headlines earlier this year for his business trip to Uruguay in January that cost taxpayers nearly $100,000 to house embassy employees and Secret Service agents in hotels, according to USA Today.

Earlier this year, the Secret Service requested a $60 million budget increase to cover Trump’s protection costs.

This report was updated at 9:38 a.m.