Key points
- Biden secretly extended Harris’s term
- Trump has now revoked it
- Trump previously ended protection for Biden’s children
ISLAMABAD: President Donald Trump has cancelled former Vice-President Kamala Harris’ Secret Service detail, seven months after she left office following her unsuccessful presidential campaign.
By law, the US Secret Service provides former vice-presidents and their families six months of protection after their terms end, according to the BBC.
But then-president Joe Biden approved a year-long extension for Harris in a previously undisclosed order — which Trump has now terminated, a senior White House official told AFP, requesting anonymity.
Harris’s office also confirmed the move, called by critics as a latest act of revenge.
Harris grateful
Harris reacted the move by appreciating the United States Secret Service.
“The Vice President is grateful to the United States Secret Service for their professionalism, dedication, and unwavering commitment to safety,” Kirsten Allen, a senior advisor to Harris, told AFP.
Democrats rallied behind Harris over the move, especially in California where she previously served as a senator.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said it was “another act of revenge following a long list of political retaliation” by Trump, according to a statement reported by US media.
“This puts the former Vice President in danger and I look forward to working with the Governor to make sure Vice President Harris is safe in Los Angeles.” Bass was quoted as saying by the US media.
Similar measures
Since taking office in January, Trump, 79, has taken similar measures against a long list of his perceived enemies and political opponents.
Trump has withdrawn protection for former national security advisor John Bolton — whose house was raided by FBI agents in a classified documents probe last week — former secretary of state Mike Pompeo and former top US military officer Mark Milley.
In March he pulled government bodyguards from Biden’s son Hunter and daughter Ashley.
Stripped of clearances
He has also stripped other officials and former officials — including Biden himself — of their security clearances to receive sensitive information.
While Harris, 60, has kept a low profile since losing the election, she is scheduled to go on tour this fall to promote her memoir “107 Days” about her short presidential run.
The book, which Harris said she wrote with “candor and reflection”, will be published by Simon & Schuster on September 23 in the United States.
The first woman to serve as vice president of the United States, Harris became the Democratic nominee after Biden, now 82, withdrew from the race amid concerns about his cognitive health.
The move to withdraw her protection comes even though the Trump administration has repeatedly stressed the need for security for current officials following the assassination attempt that the Republican survived in July 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania.
