Overworked Secret Service Agents Are Falling Asleep on the Job

Secret Service employees’ travel and long work hours led to at least two agents falling asleep on the job, according to a new report.

The Secret Service’s scheduling process does not ensure adequate breaks while employees are on duty or between their shifts, the Homeland Security Department’s inspector general found. The issue requires immediate attention, the IG said, as it threatens “officer safety and the agency’s ability to meet its mission.”

One of the employees who fell asleep on the job had worked 60 hours of overtime the week prior to the incident, the auditors found. The other officer did not work as much overtime, Secret Service officials said, but regularly worked 12-hour days. Both officers were referred for disciplinary action.

Asked what caused the mid-work nap, one officer pointed to long hours, travel and illness. That employee had once worked a 36-hour shift, including traveling from Kenya to the United States. The officer continued to work 18-hour shifts even after the sleeping incident. The second employee indicated that high temperatures contributed to feelings of fatigue, and the IG found temperatures at the officer’s post climbed to 86 degrees with limited access to water.

The IG noted that a previous panel examining Secret Service failures found employees were “overstretched, with personnel working far too many hours.” Employees regularly worked 13 days of 12-hour shifts followed by one day off, the panel found.

Secret Service management acknowledged, “Morale suffers when decreased staffing levels result in increased overtime and travel requirements,” as well as fewer training opportunities. The agency said it is working to identify its staffing needs, retain its current workforce and recruit new employees. Secret Service has for months promised a hiring surge, but officials have complained that prior drug use and bad credit have taken many applicants out of the running. The inability to hire is not for lack of interest; in March, agency Director Joseph Clancy told a congressional committee it received 45,000 applications for a class of 24 vacancies.

Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee, said it was time for the embattled Secret Service, given its “zero-fail mission,” to implement meaningful reforms.

Thompson called the issuance of the report “an extraordinary act aimed at getting the Secret Service, at the highest levels, to recognize that the agency's scheduling and staffing processes not only undermine performance but also negatively impact safety.” He added the decision to subject the sleeping officers to discipline rather than tackle the root causes of their fatigue demonstrates the agency “just doesn’t get it.” The lawmakers called on the Secret Service to “overhaul the agency’s culture and morale.”

In July, the House passed with broad bipartisan support the Secret Service Improvements Act, which would ramp up hiring and training at the agency, in addition to other reforms. Thompson did not vote on that measure, which is awaiting action in the Senate.

Clancy will address a joint committee hearing next week.