Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is pushing to move the US Secret Service from the Department of Homeland Security back under his department’s control, according to The New York Times.
Citing administration officials, the Times reported that Mnuchin has been lobbying President Donald Trump, who has signaled that he supports the idea of handing control of the agency back to Treasury.
Mnuchin held talks this month about the move with senior Secret Service agents at the Treasury Department, the Times reported.
Mnuchin has been interested in the agency’s cybersecurity and anticounterfeiting work, according to the Times.
Some senior DHS officials oppose the move, concerned about losing an agency with those components, the Times reports.
Top ranking Secret Service agents, who don’t believe DHS fully supports the agency’s mission, welcome Mnuchin’s interest considering the recent turnovers among the department’s leadership.
A spokeswoman for the Secret Service and a spokesman for the Treasury Department both declined to comment to the newspaper. A DHS spokesman did not return the Times’ request for comment.
The Secret Service told CNN it had no comment on the matter.
The agency had been part of Treasury for over 100 years before it was transferred to DHS in 2003, shortly after that department was established. The transfer was to streamline the various security measures in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
The Secret Service is tasked with protecting the president, the vice president and their respective families, plus past presidents and presidential candidates, and investigating crimes including identity theft, counterfeiting and computer fraud.
