Lawmakers want Secret Service to shape up

WASHINGTON — Members of Congress insisted Sunday that the Secret Service improve its procedures after an Army veteran, apparently suffering from mental problems, jumped a fence and managed to make it into the White House.

Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said the incident suggested the protective service might be plagued by an “atrophy of concern.”

“I think what you have seen is that they’re not doing their audits, their checks, test runs to make sure that people are up to the right standard,” Rogers said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “We see this a lot. It happens frequently in other places where there are static security forces.

“And it’s just a matter of the Secret Service upping their game to make sure that they can maintain that every detail matters.”

Others were harsher in their assessment. “I have great respect for the Secret Service, but this is absolutely inexcusable,” Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., said on “Fox News Sunday.” The incident “demands a full investigation,” he said.

The intruder, identified by authorities as Omar J. Gonzalez, was found to be carrying a knife. He is in custody undergoing a mental evaluation and is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday afternoon.

President Barack Obama was not on the grounds at the time of the breach.

A video captured from behind the White House fence shows an intruder running across the lawn. The White House was partially evacuated Friday night after the man made it into the building.