Which agency has more clout, influence, and power: The FBI or the US Secret Service?

Question

I know the question is a little corny and vague, but it was something I had been thinking about. The FBI pays it's Special Agents more than other agencies (GS10 vs. GS5, 7, 9 etc.) and has broad federal law enforcement authority as it can investigate any suspected federal law violation. On the other hand, the Secret Service, though not paid as well and possessing a narrow scope of authority, doing things like Presidential/dignitary etc. protection and counterfeiting investigations, have direct access to the US President. Generally speaking, does an FBI SA or a USSS SA pull rank? Thank you.

Answer 1

--- Neither does. Each has its own area of jurisdiction. The FBI would be the agency with a much wider field of work though. The FBI is the Federal Government's general investigative bureau. They are tasked with investigating violations of all federal laws and so often the 2 agency's work will over lap and they work together. Especially after 9/11 the jurisdictions of federal agencies have blurred because they are all tasked with defending the USA.

--- When the FBI's work overlaps the USSS they either work together or they may work separately so as to see what different information they find. But neither one has the ability to "pull rank" over the other. Generally though if an agency is specifically tasked then they have top jurisdiction. An example is the USSS protecting the president. In this matter the USSS has superior jurisdiction and the FBI would have to defer. Even so the FBI can still do their own investigation along side if there is a reason and they don't endanger the president.

--- The Secret Service is a branch of the treasury department and was established as a law enforcement agency in 1865.  Its original mandate was to investigate the counterfeiting of U.S. currency, a mission the Secret Service is still mandated to carry out. [a]

--- Today the Secret Service's primary investigative mission is to safeguard the payment and financial systems of the United States. [a]

--- Since 1984, the Secret Service's investigative responsibilities have expanded to include crimes that involve financial institution fraud, computer and telecommunications fraud, false identification documents, access device fraud, advance fee fraud, electronic funds transfers and money laundering as it relates to the agency's core violations. [a]

--- It also has responsibility for protecting national leaders, visiting heads of state and government, designated sites and National Special Security Events. [a]

--- See [a] in the source box for the Secret Service page.

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--- The FBI's mission is "to protect and defend the United States against terrorist and foreign intelligence threats and to enforce the criminal laws of the United States." We currently have jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal law..." [b] & [c]

--- I placed 2 links/urls for the FBI site in the source box so you can look them over. In [c] you will find their mission statement and the listed 200+ priorities they investigate, such as counter terrorism, civil rights, White-Collar Crime, organized crime, bank robbery, kidnapping, etc, etc.

--- [b] is the FBI front page to their site, [c] is the mission area.

---[a] is the Secret Service site.

Answer 2

all depends on jurisdition. There totally seperate agencies with different roles. If you want the agency that would top the others in stake of a national security crisis. The NSA is the top notch.

Answer 3

Becasue the FBI has a broader scope of duties, I suppose that you could state they have more "power".

Each has its own role and importance - few SS agents get near the president.

Answer 4

Kind of an apple and oranges question. Different scope of duties and authority.