The U.S. Secret Service received an official warning from its inspector general Thursday after two agents were found sleeping on the job.
The Washington Post reported that the inspector general overseeing the Secret Service gave the federal law enforcement agency a management alert that warned against overworking employees.
"This alert describes officer safety issues that may pose an immediate or potential danger to U.S. Secret Service officers and those whom they protect," the formal warning from the inspector general read. "We are concerned that the Secret Service’s staffing and scheduling process does not ensure that officers receive adequate breaks while on duty and time off between shifts."
According to multiple officials, a routine check of facilities guarded by the Secret Service in August produced the warning. Officials at the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General discovered two Secret Service agents asleep on the job, one at an embassy post and the other at the White House complex.
The check this summer came in response to security failures that occurred when an intruder jumped the White House fence and entered the building in September 2014.
Secret Service officials disputed the inspector general’s findings Thursday, arguing that the agents did not fall asleep because of staffing or scheduling problems at the agency.
"The Secret Service does not agree with the OIG’s conclusion that these officers’ misconduct was due to fatigue caused by staffing and scheduling issues," a spokesman for the Secret Service stated. "We provided the OIG with factual corrections to their draft report. With these errors corrected, we fail to understand how the OIG could logically arrive at the same conclusion."