Possible the Secret Service has the same ROE as the military and have to get approval from a lawyer.
President Obama is supporting the Secret Service in the wake of a deeply troubling incident in which a disturbed man jumped the White House fence, sprinted across the North Lawn, and actually entered the White House Friday evening.
The man, 42 year-old Omar Gonzalez, had a folding knife in his pocket and had left 800 rounds of ammunition in his car not far from the White House. Gonzalez had also drawn the attention of authorities at least twice a few weeks ago — once in Virginia, when he was found with a sniper rifle, a sawed-off shotgun, and a map with the White House circled on it, and a second time when he walked near the White House fence with a hatchet in his waistband.
On Friday, Gonzalez was briefly in the White House itself.
Nevertheless, the president had nothing but praise for the agency responsible for his security. “The Secret Service does a great job,” Obama said during an Oval Office meeting Monday. “I’m grateful for all the sacrifices they make on my behalf and on my family’s behalf.”
White House spokesman Josh Earnest added that the president has “complete confidence” in the Secret Service.[…]
Calling the breach “totally unacceptable” and expressing amazement that the White House door was open, Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah, a member of the House Homeland Security Committee, hinted there is more trouble than the public knows about. “This is not the first time Secret Service has shown too much vulnerability,” Chaffetz tweeted after the incident. “There are other unreported incidents. I will continue to push.”
“Been investigating the Secret Service for some time,” Chaffetz continued. “Frustrating. Good men and women but HUGE question marks for their leadership.” Lawmakers could hold a hearing on the matter soon.
House Intelligence Committee chairman Mike Rogers, a former FBI agent, also believes the Secret Service’s problems go deeper than a new fence. In an interview Sunday, Rogers suggested that a guard’s attention can wane when he is stationed in one place for long periods of time — a lapse that cannot be tolerated when the president’s security is involved.