House votes to form bipartisan task force to investigate security lapses in Trump rally shooting

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House voted Wednesday to form a task force to investigate the security failures surrounding the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump on June 13.

The vote underscores the bipartisan outrage over the shooting at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Trump came within inches of losing his life. One rallygoer was killed and two others severely injured. Lawmakers have responded quickly with hearings and widespread calls for accountability.

The legislation passed by a vote of 416-0.

“Protecting the safety and security of our nation’s leaders is a responsibility that transcends party lines,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said.

The task force will be composed of 13 members and is expected to include seven Republicans and six Democrats. It will be tasked with determining what went wrong on the day of the attempted assassination and will make recommendations to prevent future security lapses. It will issue a final report before Dec. 13 and has the authority to issue subpoenas.

The bill is sponsored by Republican Rep. Mike Kelly, whose hometown of Butler was the site of the shooting. Kelly was at the rally with his wife and other family members.

“I can tell you that my community is grieving,” Kelly said. “They are shocked by what happened in our backyard. The people of Butler and the people of the United States deserve answers.”

He said he was concerned when the site of the rally was picked because he thought it would be “a difficult place to have a rally of that size.” He called the task force a chance to build trust with Americans that lawmakers can work together to tackle a crisis.

House committees have already held three hearings focusing on the shooting. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned Tuesday, one day after she appeared before a congressional committee and was berated for hours by both Democrats and Republicans for the security failures. She called the attempt on Trump’s life the Secret Service’s “most significant operational failure” in decades, but she angered lawmakers by failing to answer specific questions about the investigation.

Democrats also voiced support for the task force, saying what happened in Butler was a despicable attack that never should have happened.

“We need to know what happened. We need to get to the truth. We need to prevent this from ever, ever happening again,” said Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass.