Q&A of the Day – How Much Authority Does the Secret Service Have?
Each day I feature a listener question sent by one of these methods.
Email: brianmudd@iheartmedia.com
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Today’s Entry: @brianmuddradio Can you help identify the legality to be closing down the public road around Mar-a-Lago? I support Donald Trump, but they never closed the road during his first term and closure should be limited to events not just his presence.
Bottom Line: There’s no doubt that the Secret Service’s decision to close South Ocean Blvd. in the vicinity of Mar-a-Lago has been the hottest topic on Palm Beach in recent weeks. The Secret Service’s decision to frequently close the road from South County to Southern Blvd. has been a huge inconvenience to residents and visitors to the area alike. It’s been so unpopular that even Donald Trump has spoken out about it. A spokesman for the Trump family issued a news release saying this: President Trump, the Trump family and the Mar-a-Lago Club do not want to inconvenience anyone, especially their neighbors and greater community in Palm Beach. The Trumps have been members of the community for 30 years; it is their home, and they share the sentiments of fellow town residents. So, in other words, even Donald Trump’s opinion hasn’t factored into the Secret Service’s decision to institute the closure of A1A in the name of enhanced security. That speaks to the level of authority the Secret Service has asserted in doing this. So, about that...
The Secret Service was officially established in 1865, and its authority has been tweaked a bit by Congress overtime – most recently with the creation of the Department of Homeland Security following 9/11. The current law pertaining to the authority of the Secret Service is 18 U.S. Code 3056 – Powers, authorities and duties of United States Secret Service. Most of the code addresses who is entitled to Secret Service protection and when it’s provided. Section (g) is the section that most closely aligns to today’s question. It reads: The United States Secret Service shall be maintained as a distinct entity within the Department of Homeland Security and shall not be merged with any other Department function. No personnel and operational elements of the United States Secret Service shall report to an individual other than the Director of the United States Secret Service, who shall report directly to the Secretary of Homeland Security without being required to report through any other official of the Department.
The code clearly establishes the Secret Service as an agency that’s directly, and only, accountable to the Department of Homeland Security. And that takes us to the Department of Homeland Security’s directives pertaining to the Secret Service. DHS Directive 252-11 is the Office for State and Local Law Enforcement. The directive lays out how federal agencies are to interact with state and local law enforcement. It states for example that: It is the policy of DHS to make state, tribal, and local law enforcement agencies full partners in homeland security policymaking and to coordinate their input of these partners across the Department.
Specific to the Secret Service it is stated that: Nothing in this Directive is to be construed to: Impede or inhibit in any way the statutory authority of the U.S. Secret Service to independently perform its protective and investigative functions as those functions relate to any Federal, state or local protective or investigative operation(s).
The Supremacy Clause of the Constitution states federal laws and treaties are the supreme law of the land. Obviously, the Secret Service and its parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security, are federal agencies created under federal law and therefore have supremacy power over state and local agencies, a la the Palm Beach Police Department in this instance. Also, there’s precedence for this. The Secret Service has long carried out road closures and rolling roadblocks when individuals under Secret Service protection are en route to a destination without the need for consent by a local government to do so. What’s of course different this time is that the only north/south thoroughfare on the island being closed for an extended period of time is a much greater inconvenience than the typical temporary inconveniences that typically come at the direction of the Secret Service. That takes us back to where today’s question started in asking about the legality of the road closure.
As outlined, the Secret Service has the authority to overrule any local law enforcement agencies. It also has the authority to act as it sees fit to ensure the protection of those under its protection. With that said, we’re in unprecedented territory with the uniqueness of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago situation, given its proximity to South Ocean Blvd. The Town of Palm Beach has weighed taking numerous actions to attempt to force the reopening of the road. It is clear that the Town would retain no legal standing to attempt punitive actions against Donald Trump or the Mar-a-Lago Club as many, including town officials, have hap hazardly threatened. As mentioned, this isn’t Trump’s decision, and it isn’t what he wants either. But due to the unprecedented nature of this situation, the town may have the potential for success if it legally challenges the Secret Service’s authority to continue the closures as outlined. There’s no guarantee that if a case were pursued by the town/and or residents/business owners harmed by the closure, a court would take up the case, let alone rule in favor of the town, but there’s the potential that one could as a means of providing additional regulations around the scope and the extent of the Secret Service’s authority to make demands on communities.
You’d mentioned that this hadn’t taken place during his first term as president, and that’s true. At the same time, Donald Trump hadn’t been shot in an assassination attempt, and we also weren’t made aware of the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism, Iran, engaged in a plot to assassinate him. That’s not to say that the closure of South Ocean Blvd. near Mar-a-Lago is appropriate. It does explain why the security measures around Mar-a-Lago are greater than they’d been.