Secret Service still unpaid amid standoff

A gunman charged a Secret Service checkpoint outside the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday night, and one agent was struck in a protective vest while President Donald Trump was evacuated. (abcnews.com) (politico.com) The shooting happened near the main magnetometer screening area at the Washington Hilton during the April 25 dinner, according to the Secret Service. Authorities said the suspect, Cole Allen of Torrance, California, was taken into custody. (abcnews.com) (npr.org) Washington police said Allen carried a shotgun, a handgun and multiple knives, and U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said he is expected to face federal charges including assaulting a federal officer with a dangerous weapon. (politico.com) The agent who was hit in the chest was wearing body armor and suffered non-life-threatening injuries, according to police and Trump’s post-incident briefing. No other injuries were immediately reported. (abcnews.com) (politico.com) The attack landed in the middle of a Department of Homeland Security funding lapse that has stretched beyond 60 days and left the Secret Service caught inside a broader congressional standoff. FOX stations reported the agency’s funding shortfall had become part of the story within hours of the shooting. (fox13news.com) Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told employees on April 4 that Trump had signed a memorandum to let the department pay workers during the shutdown, and that some employees might see paychecks as early as April 10. (dhs.gov) But the shutdown itself did not end. Government Executive reported last week that the administration’s emergency funding patch was running short and that DHS could again stop paying employees in May without a deal in Congress. (govexec.com) That leaves the Secret Service in the same position it has occupied throughout the lapse: still protecting the president, vice president, Cabinet officials and major events while Congress has not passed a full Homeland Security funding bill. (fox13news.com) (dhs.gov) The White House Correspondents’ Dinner was canceled after the shooting, and the suspect was expected in court Monday. The pay fight was still unresolved as the agents who stopped him returned to work. (politico.com) (govexec.com)