WASHINGTON – U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned Tuesday amid widespread outrage over her agency’s failure to prevent the assassination attempt on former President Donald J. Trump during a July 13 campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Cheatle’s resignation follows an intensive hearing in Congress There, Democrats and Republicans called for her resignation after they were dissatisfied with her answers to questions about how a gunman could have gotten within firing range of the former president. In the hearing, Cheatle noted that the Secret Service had been notified of a suspicious person two to five times before the shooting.
According to an email obtained by The Associated PressCheatle told her employees that she takes “full responsibility for the security breach.”
Ronald L. Rowe, deputy director of the U.S. Secret Service, will serve as acting director of the Secret Service, Alejandro Mayorkas of the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement.
“I appreciate his willingness to lead the Secret Service during this incredibly difficult moment as the agency seeks to get to the bottom of exactly what happened on July 13 and cooperates with ongoing investigations and congressional oversight,” Mayorkas said. “At the same time, the Secret Service must continue to effectively execute its comprehensive mission, which includes providing 24/7 protection to national leaders and dignitaries, as well as securing events of national importance in this dynamic and heightened threat environment.”
The Secret Service declined to comment and referred the matter to DHS.
“I have a responsibility to lead the agency and to find answers to how this incident happened and to ensure it does not happen again,” Cheatle said during the House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing on Monday.
Task force is still investigating
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said that although Cheatle had resigned, he would continue with plans to form a bipartisan task force to investigate the security deficiencies that led to the attempted assassination. Trump was shot and his right ear was injured.
“Her resignation is long overdue,” Johnson told reporters. “It was certainly the director’s resignation, but there may be others in the leadership team who are responsible for the mistakes and errors that happened there.”
Johnson said the task force would continue to “ensure that such mistakes are not repeated.”
On Trump’s social media page Truth Social, the former president wrote that the Biden administration “failed to adequately protect me and I was forced to take a bullet for democracy. IT WAS A GREAT HONOR TO DO THIS!”
In a statement, President Joe Biden thanked Cheatle for her service and said he plans to appoint a fresh director soon.
“As a leader, it takes honor, courage and incredible integrity to assume full responsibility for an organization entrusted with one of the most demanding responsibilities in public service,” Biden said.
He added that an independent investigation he launched at the Department of Homeland Security shortly after the shooting would “get to the bottom of what happened on July 13.”
“We all know that what happened that day must never happen again,” Biden said.
Senator Chuck Grassley, Republican of Iowa, and Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, Democrat of Nevada, issued a joint statement in which they said they had bipartisan legislation Under this provision, all future directors of the Secret Service would be subject to confirmation by the Senate and would only serve a ten-year term.
“Our bill is a critical step toward giving Congress and the American people the transparency and accountability they expect from the Secret Service,” Grassley said. “In light of former Director Cheatle’s resignation, Congress must now act quickly to pass our bill and put a qualified individual at the helm of the agency.”
Cortez Masto said that requiring the Secret Service director to be confirmed by the Senate “will ensure the same level of oversight as other federal law enforcement agencies and help our hard-working agents do their jobs to the best of their ability.”
Mayorkas also praised Cheatle for her work, citing her 29 years of service.
“Over the past two years, she has led the Secret Service with skill, honor, integrity and tireless dedication,” Mayorkas said in a statement. “She is deeply respected by the men and women of the agency and her colleagues at the Department of Homeland Security.”
