After a controversial hearing before the House Oversight Committee, Secret Service Director Kim Cheatle’s job could be more at risk than ever.
Representative Nancy Mace of South Carolina announced Monday that she had filed a motion to impeach the controversial director, just hours after the House hearing concluded.
Just filed a motion to impeach Kim Cheatle, Director of the Secret Service. This will force a vote within the next 48 hours.
– Nancy Mace (@NancyMace) July 23, 2024
Anger over the Secret Service’s failure to protect former President Donald Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, is palpable across the political spectrum. Even progressive Democrats like Ro Khanna took a tough stance in their questioning of the Secret Service chief.
KHANNA: Now, Director Cheatle, do you agree that this is the most earnest breach of security by the Secret Service since the assassination of President Reagan in 1981?
CHEATLE: Yes, sir, I would.
KHANNA: And… you know what Stuart Knight did when he ran the Secret Service back then – you know what he did… after that?
CHEATLE: He remained on duty.
KHANNA: He resigned. He resigned. And Stuart Knight was not appointed by the Democrats or the Republicans. Look, I’m not questioning your judgment – I just don’t think this is partisan. When an assassination attempt is made on a president, a former president, or a candidate, you have to resign. That’s what Stuart Knight did. He was appointed by the Republicans and he took responsibility. And I think you have to think. This is not a question about you; it’s a question about the American people. You can’t take over the leadership of an intelligence agency when an assassination attempt is made on a presidential candidate.
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Representative Andy Biggs of Arizona also demanded further answers after the hearing, apparently frustrated by Cheatle’s lack of answers.
“It is inconceivable that an assassin was able to gain access to an unsafe building and shoot President Trump from there, despite having a direct line of sight to the rally stage,” Biggs wrote in a letter to Cheatle sent after Monday’s hearing. “Equally inconceivable is that public reports suggest that U.S. intelligence identified the building as a potential vulnerability and failed to include that vulnerability in the perimeter security or otherwise ensure its security.”
Director Cheatle sat before our committee for hours and provided no substantive answers to her agency’s failures.
Something like this is unacceptable coming from the head of the Secret Service.
After today’s @GOPOversight When I heard her, I wrote to her and asked for more information. https://t.co/kajzjBiHZb pic.twitter.com/fNEQnrKHbC
— Rep. Andy Biggs (@RepAndyBiggsAZ) July 22, 2024
Cheatle’s grip on her job appears to be crumbling. While President Joe Biden has expressed continued support for Cheatle, members of his own party have become increasingly hostile to the very idea that she still has a job.
