https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2015/09/10/should-bernie-sanders-have-secret-service-protection/
How White House hopefuls receive taxpayer-funded security is completely subjective. An advisory committee that includes the speaker of the House, House minority whip, Senate majority leader, Senate minority leader and one additional member chosen by the committee decides which presidential candidates should have Secret Service detail and passes the recommendations on to the Homeland Security Department.
It wasn’t until 1968, after Robert Kennedy was assassinated, that protection was expanded to cover “major candidates,” a distinction that has no real definition. Though, according to a 2000 Congressional Research Service report, there are certain guidelines the committee follows like the candidate must be declared (good start), has raised at least $2 million (who hasn’t these days?) and gets at least 5 percent support in national polls (well, that eliminates half of the GOP field).
In 2012, Secret Service agents were detailed to Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, and later Newt Gingrich, during the GOP primary. This year, so far, just Clinton has the government-funded protection. Donald Trump pays for his own private body men. So does Jeb Bush.
Dan Emmett, a former Secret Service agent and author of “Within Arm’s Length: A Secret Service Agent’s Definitive Inside Account of Protecting the President,” is opposed to any candidates getting protection.
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