WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has revoked U.S. Secret Service protection for former Vice President Kamala Harris, a senior adviser to Harris told NBC News on Friday.
“The Vice President is grateful to the United States Secret Service for their professionalism, dedication, and unwavering commitment to safety," the adviser said.
A senior White House official confirmed Friday that Trump had revoked Harris’ Secret Service detail, adding that vice presidents typically only get six months of protection when they leave office.
Congress passed legislation in 2008 that authorized the Secret Service to protect former vice presidents, their spouses and their children under 16 years old for up to six months after the end of a vice president’s term.
A Secret Service official told NBC that while that's true, then-President Joe Biden signed an executive memorandum in January extending Harris’ protection to 18 months.
The former president’s office declined to comment.
The extension for Harris was "not typical," a senior administration official briefed on the issue but not authorized to speak publicly said.
The official added that Mike Pence, then-Vice President Biden and Dick Cheney all received the customary six months. Further extensions require presidential or congressional action.
Cheney, an architect of the Bush administration’s national security policies, requested an extension amid concerns about his personal safety, which was granted by then-President Barack Obama, the New York Daily News reported at the time.
Other former vice presidents have also received extensions, with Al Gore and Dan Quayle receiving protection for 180 days, former Secret Service director Mark Sullivan told the Washington Post in 2008.
The decision, first reported by CNN, is among a number of actions Trump and his administration have taken to target people who worked for the Biden administration. Some have included removing privileges like security clearances for former intelligence officials. During his second term so far, Trump has also taken aim at some of his own former officials, including removing the security details for former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former national security adviser John Bolton.
The change was relayed Thursday from the White House to the Department of Homeland Security to the Secret Service, a federal official said, and the protection for Harris will end Sept. 1.
Harris’ detail will move to an assignment in New York to work on the United Nations General Assembly, where significant preparation is already underway for that event next month. The detail will later be reassigned.
Earlier this year, Trump announced that he was terminating Secret Service protection for Biden's two adult children, Hunter Biden and Ashley Biden, whose protection their father had extended. Biden had also extended protection to former Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas due to threats, but Trump revoked that as well.
Federal law requires that the Secret Service provide protection to former presidents and their spouses for the rest of their lives unless they decline it. The agency is also authorized to protect former presidents’ children until age 16.
Harris revealed in July that she had decided not to run for governor of California next year, and it’s not yet clear if she plans to run for president again in 2028.
“For now, my leadership — and public service — will not be in elected office,” she continued. “I look forward to getting back out and listening to the American people, helping elect Democrats across the nation who will fight fearlessly, and sharing more details in the months ahead about my own plans.”
Like Trump, Biden and other officials, Harris faced a spate of threats as vice president, as threats to public officials in general have intensified.
This comes less than a month before Harris is scheduled to launch her 15-city book tour promoting her memoir "107 days" about her very short presidential run against Trump last year after Biden dropped out of the race.
