McCain declines Secret Service guards so far

WASHINGTON — Although he's the presumptive Republican nominee for president, John McCain has yet to ask for Secret Service protection as he travels the country.

The revelation surprised some members of Congress on Thursday during a hearing on the Secret Service's budget request for fiscal 2009.

McCain's campaign has spoken about security with Department of Homeland Security officials but has not asked for coverage, Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan said.

"He's not required to have protection," Sullivan said.

McCain campaign spokesman Jeffrey Sadosky refused to discuss security measures or Secret Service protection.

McCain said last fall that he would avoid Secret Service protection as long as possible because it would interfere with his ability to interact with voters.

The absence of protection for the Arizona senator means a lot of the agency's $110 million budget for presidential protection this fiscal year has gone primarily to the two high-profile Democratic nominees, Sens. Barack Obama of Illinois and Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York.

Clinton was entitled to protection as a former first lady, but Secret Service staffing was adjusted after she became a presidential candidate.

Obama began using Secret Service protection after Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and a bipartisan advisory committee decided last May that threat levels were high enough to warrant it.

The high staffing levels have strained the Secret Service, which didn't begin protecting Democratic nominee John Kerry until February 2004 in the last presidential election cycle.

Sullivan said the agency had faced "challenges" with massive crowds not often seen in a pre-election winter and spring.

McCain does have private bodyguards who accompany him to events. On charter planes, reporters and staffers are screened by private security each time they board.

On one recent flight in Mississippi, a bomb-sniffing dog checked the media bus before reporters were allowed to board McCain's charter.

Material from The Washington Post is included in this report.