The acting director of the US Secret Service expressed concern on Thursday about the morale of his overworked agents, as he addressed an independent review calling for “fundamental reform” within the agency to prevent attempts assassination like that of July which injured the former president. Donald Trump.

In an exclusive interview with NBC News, Ronald Rowe Jr. said he worries about the health and well-being of “demoralized” Secret Service agents who are pushed to the brink and working long hours amid operational and policy changes.

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“We are redlining our staff,” Rowe said. “We’re asking them to do extraordinary things right now. »

His remarks came hours after an independent, bipartisan panel identified in a report “numerous errors” on the part of the Secret Service and “deep” systemic or cultural flaws that enabled the assassination attempt at the rally. Trump presidential campaign in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13.

Trump was shot in the ear, one rally attendee was killed and two others were injured before a Secret Service counter-shooter shot and killed the 20-year-old gunman.

The panel, made up of four former senior law enforcement and government officials, said the Secret Service “does not operate at the elite level necessary to carry out its critical mission.” He warned that another assassination attempt “can and will happen again” without “fundamental reform.”

The committee’s recommendations included welcoming a new management team, requiring additional training and aerial surveillance for outdoor events, and establishing a central communications center for large events.

Rowe, who has previously publicly acknowledged the agency’s failures, said the Secret Service had taken protection of Trump to the highest level, as much as that of a sitting U.S. president. The agency also provided minimally or unredacted documents to Congress and invested in new technology, he said.

“We will continue to work with the department to review recommendations that are actionable and actionable to bring about change within the Secret Service,” he said. “But we didn’t wait for reports like this to come out. »

In a separate written statement, Rowe said the agency was developing a “comprehensive” plan to “drive fundamental transformation” within the Secret Service. He said the plan focuses on increasing and retaining agency staff, modernizing technology and developing a training plan.

He told NBC News that applications to join the Secret Service are on the rise, with 400 people currently in various stages of training.

Rowe was named acting director in July after Kimberly Cheatle resigned following a blistering House Oversight Committee hearing in which lawmakers criticized her for a lack of cooperation.

At a rare joint Senate committee hearing shortly after his nomination, Rowe said he was “ashamed” of the security failures that led to the assassination attempt and said he could not understand nor defend why the roof from which the shooter had fired was not better secured. .

Earlier this week, the two men who were shot and wounded at the July rally told NBC News that the Secret Service did not respond to them that day. “The negligence was serious,” said one of them, David Dutch, 57.

Rowe apologized to them on Thursday. “We failed that day, but we will not fail again,” he said.

In September, there was a second assassination attempt at Trump’s golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida. Officials said the suspect, Ryan Wesley Routh, hid in some bushes and pointed a semi-automatic rifle with a scope at Trump, who was about 400 yards away.

A Secret Service agent spotted him and opened fire before Routh, 58, had Trump in his sights.

Routh was arrested as he attempted to drive away from the scene and pleaded not guilty.

A person close to the Trump campaign and another person familiar with the matter previously told NBC News that Trump has not played golf since the Sept. 15 incident and would not do so until after the election.

On Thursday, Rowe said it was a “personal decision” by Trump.

“The former president is very aware of the threats made against him by foreign actors,” he said.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com