‘Stretched thin’: Secret Service faces renewed scrutiny after White House Correspondents’ Dinner attack | CNN Politics

President Donald Trump, the acting attorney general and other top administration officials all publicly say the Secret Service responded as intended when a gunman tried to force his way into the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner. But behind the scenes, the incident at the Washington Hilton on Saturday night — in which the gunman sprinted through a security checkpoint before he fell and was subdued by law enforcement — has renewed questions about the long-simmering challenges facing the Secret Service, including staffing shortages, strain on agents and burnout. Current and former Secret Service officials tell CNN personnel issues have plagued the agency for years, despite promises to address the problems. “We have limited resources, and we use them as best we can,” one high-ranking former official told CNN. “The reality is we are stretched thin, and the agency is constantly playing catch up.” Law enforcement experts and lawmakers raised concerns to CNN about vulnerabilities that the incident exposed. They included the security challenges of the hotel itself, as well as whether there should have been a larger security perimeter or additional agents on site