As an ex-president now with a felony on his record, Donald Trump would lose his Secret Service protection or the usual perks, like an office, of post-White House life under bills sponsored by two House Democrats.
But the idea Trump could forfeit his protective detail because of his conviction on 34 state counts of falsifying business records in New York led one Republican to say Democrats are rooting for Trump’s assassination, even though the bills are unlikely to advance soon.
Representative Bennie Thompson (Democrat, Mississippi) introduced one of the bills and said he did so after heading up the House committee that looked at the January 6, 2021, insurrection attempt at the US Capitol.
“I was disappointed in how the president conducted himself as president. He put a lot of people’s lives in danger. So I saw that,” Thompson told HuffPost.
“But more importantly, why would you want to protect a felon?”
Under the law, Trump as a former president gets a raft of post-presidency perks, including a pension equivalent to the pay of a White House cabinet official (currently $246,400 a year), a travel budget, office space and staff, and, most visibly, Secret Service protection for himself and his wife.
Thompson’s bill, introduced in April, would stop Secret Service protection for a protectee when they are sentenced for a state or federal crime that carries a penalty of at least one year in prison. It would not affect any of the other post-presidency perks Trump enjoys.
Representative Laura Sanchez (Democrat, California) took a different approach with her bill, the “No Glory for Hate Act” first introduced in 2021 and then reintroduced in September.
Under the bill, a president who had been impeached twice or been convicted of a state or federal crime “relating to actions taken in an official capacity” as president would be barred from getting any of the usual post-presidency perks except Secret Service protection.
It also would bar using federal funds to create a memorial for or name any federal building or property after a former president who had been impeached twice or was a felon. They would also be prohibited from being buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
“President Trump is now a convicted felon, further emphasising why taxpayers shouldn’t have to foot the bill to honour him,” Sanchez said in a statement to HuffPost.
“I first introduced this bill after the January 6 attack on the Capitol. Since then, Trump continues to be a threat to our democracy. His behaviour and the hatred he spews has become increasingly hostile. This is not someone who belongs back in the White House and certainly not someone who deserves monuments built in his honour,” she said.
While neither bill is expected to go anywhere as long as Republicans control a chamber of Congress, just the idea of having Trump forfeit his post-presidency Secret Service was enough to cause one House Republican member to accuse Democrats of trying to get Trump assassinated.
“You have a member of Congress that actually introduced legislation to take away his Secret Service and his personal security, basically saying that they would like to expose him to physical harm, danger, maybe even assassination,” Representative Andy Biggs (Republican, Arizona) told rightwing news outlet Newsmax on Monday.
“It’s an outrageous thing that we’re actually talking about this,” Biggs said.
Asked if he will reintroduce his bill next year if Democrats win the House in November, Thompson hedged.
“We’ll see how it goes this time. Who knows? Stranger things have happened,” he said.
“It’s something that I think bears consideration. Those people that I’ve talked to say it’s a wonderful idea. Why would you want to protect a felon?”