WASHINGTON — U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned Tuesday amid outrage that her agency failed to prevent an assassination attempt on former President Donald J. Trump during a July 13 campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Cheatle’s resignation comes after intense congressional hearing where Democrats and Republicans demanded she resign after they became dissatisfied with her answers about how a gunman could have gotten within range of the former president. During questioning, Cheatle noted that the Secret Service learned about the suspect two to five times before the shooting.
According to email obtained by Associated PressCheatle told 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, Homeland Security Investigation Chief Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement.
“I appreciate his willingness to lead the Secret Service at this incredibly difficult time as the agency works 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 effectively execute its broad mission, which includes providing 24/7 protection to national leaders and visiting dignitaries and securing events of national importance in this dynamic and escalating threat environment.”
The Secret Service declined to comment and referred the matter to DHS.
“It’s my responsibility to lead this agency and find answers to how this happened and make sure it doesn’t happen again,” Cheatle said during a House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing Monday.
The task force will continue to investigate
House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, said that despite Cheatle’s resignation, he still intends to move forward with work to establish a bipartisan commission to investigate the security failures that led to the assassination attempt in which Trump was shot and wounded in the right ear.
“Her resignation is long overdue,” Johnson told reporters. “It was certainly the director, but there may be others in the line of authority who are also to blame for what happened in errors and mistakes.”
Johnson said the taskforce would continue to “ensure mistakes like this are not repeated.”
On Trump’s social media site, Truth Social, the former president wrote that the Biden administration “failed to protect me adequately and I was forced to take a bullet for democracy. IT WAS A GREAT HONOR FOR ME TO DO THIS!”
President Joe Biden in a statement thanked Cheatle for her service and said he plans to name a fresh director soon.
“As a leader, I must demonstrate honor, courage and incredible integrity to take full responsibility for an organization that is tasked with one of the most difficult jobs in public service,” Biden said.
He added that an independent review he ordered the Department of Homeland Security to conduct shortly after the shooting “will enable us to get to the bottom of what happened on July 13.”
“We all know that what happened that day can 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 introduced bipartisanship legislation It would require all future Secret Service directors to be subject to Senate confirmation and serve a single, 10-year term.
“Our bill is a critical step toward providing the transparency and accountability that Congress and the American people deserve from the Secret Service,” Grassley said. “In light of former Director Cheatle’s resignation, Congress must now act quickly to pass our legislation and place a qualified individual at the helm of the agency.”
Cortez Masto said requiring the Senate to confirm the Secret Service director “will provide the same level of oversight that other federal law enforcement agencies have and will help our hard-working agents do their jobs to the best of their ability.”
Mayorkas also praised Cheatle for her work, highlighting her 29 years of service.
“For 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 by her fellow leaders across the Department of Homeland Security.”
