Just days before hundreds of thousands of spectators are set to gather for the swearing-in of President-elect Donald Trump on the steps of the Capitol, Secret Service and other law enforcement officials are expressing confidence that they are fully prepared to protect the peaceful transfer of power even as they acknowledge an elevated threat level from President Joe Biden’s inauguration four years ago.

Behind the scenes, however, deep concerns remain that the Secret Service is still facing some of the same institutional problems exposed last summer and fall in the wake of two assassination attempts on Trump’s life. New threats and fears also have emerged since a pair of New Year’s Day attacks on ordinary Americans, including one in which a U.S. Army veteran rammed a truck into a crowd of early morning revelers in New Orleans the same day an active-duty U.S. Army solider blew up a Tesla Cybertruck outside a Trump hotel in Las Vegas, killing himself.

Secret Service Agent Matt McCool, who heads the Washington Field Office and is leading security preparations for the inauguration, during a Monday press conference with D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and other federal and local law enforcement officials, said a combined force of 25,000 law enforcement officials and members of the military will be on hand to provide security for Trump’s swearing-in ceremony. The festivities include an inaugural parade in which presidents and first ladies traditionally walk at least part of the route from the Capitol to the White House alongside the presidential motorcade, flanked by contingents of Secret Service agents.

McCool, a square-jawed, muscular agent straight out of Secret Service central casting, acknowledged the higher threat level and a “slightly more robust security” operation for the days leading up to the swearing-in ceremony and the Inauguration itself. During Monday’s press conference, he said the inauguration will be the fifth National Special Security Event this year that has taken place without a major incident disrupting it, including the Jan. 6 certification of Trump’s victory and the funeral of President Jimmy Carter just last week.

(An NSSE is an event of national or international significance deemed by the United States Department of Homeland Security to be a potential target for terrorism or other criminal activity.)

“And if there’s areas where we need to improve, we do it,” he said, acknowledging an “ever-changing threat environment.”

“But what I can tell you is that we are 100% confident in planning for this inauguration [that the] the public, our protectees will be safe,” he added.

McCool also warned that the Secret Service would be using drones as part of the protective plan both in the days leading up to the inauguration and during the event itself, so the public shouldn’t worry if they see these unmanned aerial vehicles in the Washington, D.C. sky in the days leading up to the swearing-in and on Inauguration Day. The drones, along with Federal Aviation Administration flight restrictions for other aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles, are part of the normal security plan.

McCool’s strong stature and bespectacled, strait-laced demeanor spurred social media comparisons to Clark Kent, the fictional superhero alias to Superman. Several Secret Service sources told RealClearPolitics that he is an exceptionally qualified agent and the right person to lead security preparations for such a monumental event.

Several sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, also downplayed concerns about threats from drones. D.C. has layers of drone defense systems that have been in use for years, they told RCP, so they aren’t deeply concerned about a drone threat despite the still-unexplained drone sightings in recent months, mostly along the East Coast, and a years-long Iranian plot to assassinate Trump with a drone.

Dan Bongino, an 11-year veteran of the Secret Service and conservative commenter, however, still harbors concerns about the drone threat. On his Tuesday podcast, Bongino argued that FAA’s temporary flight restrictions are not easily enforceable, describing them as mere “stop signs” that can be violated.

“They’re basically suggestions, if everybody doesn’t agree to stop, okay…there are other things we can do to make sure planes don’t and drones don’t violate the [flight restrictions],” he said, noting he didn’t want to disclose Secret Service sources and methods. “However, I’m not sure we have the manpower for all that.”

Multiple Secret Service agents brushed aside significant concerns about drones, citing far more systemic and ongoing challenges the agency faces that they say could negatively impact security on Inauguration Day, including the manpower issues Bongino mentioned. Some of these problems have been plaguing the agency for years and were further exposed by multiple Congressional investigations and a review by an independent, bipartisan commission. After two attempts on Trump’s life, multiple threats against the incoming president became known to the public, including at least two Iranian assassination plots.

Ahead of the inauguration, FBI officials have said there are no “specific or credible threats” that the agency is tracking against Trump, another U.S. official, or to the Capitol complex. But the agency has come under scrutiny for failing to have any information or leads before the ISIS-inspired attack on the crowd in New Orleans by a U.S. citizen and Army veteran, and has stirred distrust among conservatives for years over its investigations targeting Trump.

U.S. Capitol Police Chief Thomas Manger, at Monday’s press conference, said law enforcement agencies are expecting more than 10,000 protesters to D.C. that weekend and into Monday. He said the biggest threat the inauguration faces is from an unknown lone actor.

“That threat of the lone actor remains the biggest justification of us staying on a heightened state of alert throughout the next week,” he said.

Two lone actors showed up at the Capitol when former President Jimmy Carter was lying in state and members of Congress and other U.S. officials were paying their respects, according to Manger. One tried to bring a machete into the Capitol building, and another tried to set his car on fire near the Capitol in an effort to “disrupt” the day’s proceedings, Manger said.

Behind the scenes, Secret Service agents are deeply concerned about the friction between top agency leaders and the incoming Trump administration, along with several institutional problems.

Acting Secret Service Director Ron Rowe has tried to set up a meeting with Trump since the election, but Trump has rebuffed those attempts, even though Rowe had traveled to Florida multiple times, two sources tell RCP.

Another source said Rowe tried to secure a meeting with Trump through his ties to agents close to the president-elect but also failed.

The Secret Service and the Trump campaign didn’t respond to inquiries about Rowe’s attempts to meet with Trump.

The lack of communication between Rowe and Trump is likely not affecting security planning, one Secret Service source noted, because Rowe is in regular contact with John Bush, the special agent in charge of the presidential protective division, which oversees security for the first family, the vice president’s family, and all protectees. Following normal post-election protocol, Bush spent several weeks at Mar-a-Lago prepping Trump, his family, and incoming staff on transition security.

Trump is widely expected to name a new director soon and either fire Rowe or ensure that he is removed from a leadership position, the sources said. The sources expect Rowe to voluntarily step down from the post and possibly resign from the Secret Service altogether after the inauguration.

Since Trump’s election, the top names publicly circulating for the director role are Sean Curran, the leader of Trump’s personal detail, and Dan Bongino, conservative commentator and former Fox News host. Bongino, however, has repeatedly said on his podcast and X.com that he isn’t interested in leaving the private sector.

In recent weeks, Curran’s name has continued to circulate as a top contender among agents, but Secret Service sources have touted other potential candidates as well, as RCP previously reported, including Michael D’Ambrosio, a respected senior career agent and former platoon commander in the U.S. Marines.

Other agency officials close to Rowe and former Director Kimberly Cheatle, who resigned under pressure from Congress after the first assassination attempt, are also expected to exit, including Chief Operating Officer Cynthia Sjoberg Radway, whom Cheatle hired and Rowe kept in the post. Several assistant directors close to these leaders will also likely leave voluntarily or during a house cleaning by a new director.

A significant leadership shake-up has been expected since Trump’s election, so many rank-and-file agents are not as concerned about its impact on the inauguration as the institutional problems the assassination attempts exposed.

Those include the reduced number of senior veteran agents and the high level of exhaustion of all agents who were already stretched thin during the frenetic campaign schedule and high tempo that hasn’t dissipated since Election Day.

Agents pointed to an internal email sent out Friday with the subject line, “File Operations Manpower Update,” which a senior USSS official sent to several agency divisions. The memo, obtained by RCP, thanked rank-and-file agents for filling inauguration assignments but stressed that the manpower demands from Secret Service offices across the country would not decrease for several months as the agency helps provide security for the presidential transition.

“I want to provide everyone with a quick update on manpower status and expectations going into and coming out of the Inauguration,” the official wrote in the email. “I know ASAIC [redacted] team has been working diligently with your OPs sections to fill inauguration assignments and am told that process, while another heavy lift is going smoothly and is greatly appreciated.”

“Unfortunately, there will be continued needs for significant numbers of Field Operations personnel to support protective assignments as the transition continues in the coming months,” the official concluded.

The email closes by noting that the agency is “working to get a clearer picture of the permanent protective support anticipated as the new administration transitions in and the number of protectees grows” before thanking agents for their continued high workload.

“I feel fine about the inauguration [plans], the only thing I’m worried about is the tempo is not slowing down whatsoever,” one agent, who requested anonymity, told RCP.

“Agents are completely exhausted – mistakes are made when people are tired,” another agent remarked.  

Before the inauguration, the list of Secret Service protectees had grown to 37, including presidents, former presidents, family members, and other U.S. officials under Secret Service protection. That number, as the email noted, will only increase as the agency takes on new security duties for Trump’s large family.

Several sources in the Secret Service community have long expressed the need to reduce the number of protectees in their charge. Those decisions, however, are made by presidential executive actions after consultation with the Homeland Security secretary and several key members of Congress.

In the coming weeks, Trump may decide to drop Secret Service protection for some Biden administration and other U.S. officials, as well as extended Biden family members, although doing so could spur criticism after he complained about the lack of key security assets during the Butler rally and the second assassination attempt against him at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s choice to helm the Health and Human Services Department, also complained bitterly about President Biden’s decision to deny him Secret Service protection while Kennedy was waging his longshot challenge to Biden for the Democratic nomination. Kennedy’s uncle, President John F. Kennedy, and his father, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, were assassinated.

Usually, Secret Service protection for all those who previously received it during the prior administration is extended for several months into a new presidency. However, presidents have discretion over how long to extend the protection for each person under Secret Service detail.

Two days after Trump’s assassination, Biden directed the Secret Service to protect Kennedy, who then lost it after he ended his campaign and endorsed Trump in late August.

Secret Service agents also shared their concerns about the training level of Homeland Security Investigative agents involved in helping to secure the inauguration. There were a large number of HSI agents on hand to supplement security at the July 13 Butler rally, where Trump was nearly assassinated. Those HSI agents complained to members of Congress that they only received a couple of hours of training for the Butler rally via a glitchy online video. Some USSS agents aren’t confident that HSI training has improved as much as is needed before such a critical National Special Security Event as an inauguration.

Other Secret Service agents are greatly appreciative of the work HSI agents regularly provide for the Secret Service, noting that they were great assets during security for the United Nations General Assembly in October and usually assist with security and do not replace the vital protective work of Secret Service agents.