On Wednesday, December 5, 2012, the House is scheduled to consider H.R. 6620, the Former Presidents Protection Act of 2012, under a suspension of the rules requiring a two-thirds majority vote for passage. The bill was introduced by Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) on November 30, 2012, and referred to the Committee on Judiciary.

The bill would amend federal law to uniformly restore full statutory lifetime protection for all Presidents upon leaving office by repealing the current 10-year restriction on Secret Service protection. 

The 10 year restriction for protection applies to presidents who take office after January 1, 1997.  In other words, under current law, President George W. Bush, President Obama and future presidents will only receive 10 years of protection, with additional protection provided at the direction of the Department of Homeland Security.  President Clinton and all of his predecessors – and their spouses – get lifetime protection under current law.  This bill would uniformly restore full lifetime protection for all Presidents and their spouses. 

A CBO score of H.R. 6620 was not available as of press time.