Senator looks to close loophole for threats against former VPs

A new bill from Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) would close a loophole to allow the Secret Service to investigate threats against former vice presidents.

{mosads}The bill, the Former Vice President Protection Improvement Act, S. 250, adds threats against former vice presidents to a list of crimes carrying a penalty of up to five years in prison and allows the Secret Service to investigate the cases.

The measure would fill in a gap in the law left after Congress expanded protection for former vice presidents in 2008. That year, Congress acted to codify Secret Service details for former vice presidents to allow then-Vice President Cheney, and future officeholders, to keep protection after their terms expired.

That move, however, did not deal with threats against former vice presidents, a gap that Hatch now looks to close.

“We need to make sure that the Secret Service has the resources and authorities it needs to protect our nation and my bill will fill an important void in current law,” Hatch said in a statement. “In order to fully protect government officials assigned to their care, agents need to be able to investigate the threats they face.”

The law currently covers former presidents, the current president and vice president, the president-elect and vice president-elect, major presidential or vice presidential candidates, and the immediate families of these officials.

The reach of the Secret Service has grown after 9/11. Before then, the Secret Service protected 18 people, a number that has now grown to 27, including Vice President Biden’s five grandchildren, The Washington Post reports.

That expanded role has received some scrutiny amid high-profile security lapses at the agency. A Department of Homeland Security report last December found that “the Secret Service is stretched to and, in many cases, beyond its limits.” That report’s focus was mainly on the Uniformed Division officers guarding the White House, though.