Moskowitz, Fry seek Secret Service shift from U.s. Department Of Homeland Security
Reps. Jared Moskowitz and Russell Fry introduced legislation on Thursday to move the Secret Service out of the u.s. department of homeland security and make it report directly to the White House. The bill arrives after the third assassination attempt against President Donald Trump in April and puts the agency’s chain of command at the center of the debate.
Moskowitz and Fry
Moskowitz, a Florida Democrat and former emergency management director, said the goal is to cut red tape at DHS that slows subagencies from functioning. He said the Secret Service needs more resources and less bureaucracy, and that his visit to Butler and conversations with the agency led him to see the same problems that he had seen at FEMA.
Fry, a South Carolina Republican, said the measure would better allow the Secret Service to carry out its responsibility of protecting the president. He said the agency should focus solely on protecting top U.S. officials instead of dealing with bureaucratic tape.
White House Correspondents' Association Dinner
Moskowitz also tied the bill to the assassination scare at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner, saying it reinforced the need to make the agency directly accountable to the president. Armed Secret Service agents were on stage during a shooting incident at the annual dinner on April 25, 2026, at the Washington Hilton in Washington, D.C.
The legislation is part of a broader bipartisan DHS reform package from Moskowitz. That package would also make FEMA an independent cabinet-level agency and move TSA to the Department of Transportation, widening the proposed reorganization beyond the Secret Service alone.
Late April funding lapse
The push comes after DHS endured a record-breaking funding lapse that ended in late April after 76 days. With that backdrop, the bill would not just change where the Secret Service reports; it would also test whether lawmakers want to redraw the department’s structure around FEMA and TSA at the same time.
