Secret Service Offers Recruitment Incentives Up to $75,000 as It Targets 4,000 New Hires by 2028

The Secret Service is offering $40,000 recruitment incentives for special agents in dozens of states, $75,000 incentives for Secret Service police and special operations and $60,000 incentives for special agents on its counter assault team. The agency is urgently hiring for special agents on its Hazardous Agent Mitigation and Medical Emergency Response team, which responds to a hazardous, toxic, or lethal environment to locate, extract, decontaminate, and provide life-saving medical interventions for Secret Service protectees.

Forbes reported that the incentives and urgent hiring push come as the Secret Service aims to create 852 new positions in fiscal year 2027, including 520 special agents.

The agency plans to hire 4,000 new employees by 2028, a 20 percent increase in staff that would bring the total to 10,000 employees. The Secret Service hired 824 trainees in the first seven months of fiscal year 2026, compared with 786 trainees hired in all of fiscal year 2025. It is on track to hire approximately 2,000 law enforcement professionals by the end of 2027.

Those gains follow the departure of 1,400 Secret Service employees in fiscal years 2022 and 2023, the largest staffing loss at the agency in at least two decades. Forbes reported that the understaffing has increased demands on existing personnel. "We can’t create enough incentives to negate the fact that we’re working our people very, very hard," Secret Service Deputy Director Matthew Quinn told The Washington Post.

The hiring acceleration began before recent incidents but gained emphasis after an April shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner at the Washington Hilton. Suspect Cole Tomas Allen was stopped in the lobby area of the Washington Hilton, exchanged fire with law enforcement, and accessed the ballroom.

Cole Tomas Allen charged past a security checkpoint carrying knives, a shotgun and firearm.

A Secret Service agent was shot in the crossfire in his bulletproof vest. The April shooting at the Washington Hilton raised speculation about possible gaps in security, particularly after multiple investigations found shortfalls in the Secret Service’s planning and staffing contributed to the 2024 assassination attempt against Trump at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

The White House Correspondents Association dinner was not given the National Special Security Event designation, which is typically reserved for multiday events attended by the president and other top officials.

WHCA Executive Director Steve Thomma told The Post he’s not aware of the event receiving that designation previously. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told CNN it was a massive security success story . .

This suspect barely breached the perimeter. Sen. Dick Durbin told Politico he saw no indication that a security failure contributed to the shooting after a briefing with Secret Service Director Sean Curran.

8 million for the Olympics in its latest budget request. There will be seven National Special Security Events in 2028. "The heightened threat environment certainly underscores the need to bolster the ranks," Nate Herring said.

The spokesperson noted that the agency has streamlined its hiring processes by reducing the old, bureaucratic process. The agency continues to take a proactive approach to attrition, including group retention incentives for special agents, Secret Service police officers, cybersecurity experts, and other specialty teams to maintain seasoned professionals.