(The Center Square) – U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned Tuesday after she was widely criticized over security lapses at the campaign event where former President Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt.
The news comes the day after a hearing before the House Oversight Committee where lawmakers from both sides of the aisle called on Cheatle to resign and blasted her for the Secret Service’s failings around the shooting of Trump.
During the hearing, Cheatle refused to directly answer hardly any questions, further frustrating both Democrat and Republican lawmakers.
House Oversight Chair Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., welcomed Cheatle’s resignation in a statement Tuesday, but said there would be more accountability in store for the Secret Service.
“The Oversight Committee’s hearing resulted in Director Cheatle’s resignation and there will be more accountability to come,” Comer said in a statement. “The Secret Service has a no-fail mission yet it failed historically on Director Cheatle’s watch. At yesterday’s Oversight Committee hearing, Director Cheatle instilled no confidence that she has the ability to ensure the Secret Service can meet its protective mission. Egregious security failures leading up to and at the Butler, Pennsylvania campaign rally resulted in the assassination attempt of President Trump, the murder of an innocent victim, and harm to others in the crowd.”
The Secret Service, and FBI are conducting investigations into what happened at the Butler County, Pennsylvania rally where Trump was shot.
The Secret Service has faced serious questions about how the shooter was allowed to get on an unoccupied rooftop, how rally attendees could spot the shooter with a gun before federal security, and why Trump was allowed to go on stage even though security had deemed the shooter as “suspicious” before Trump even took the stage.
President Joe Biden released a statement Tuesday thanking Cheatle for her service.
"She has selflessly dedicated and risked her life to protect our nation throughout her career in the United States Secret Service," Biden said. "We especially thank her for answering the call to lead the Secret Service during our Administration and we are grateful for her service to our family. As a leader, it takes honor, courage, and incredible integrity to take full responsibility for an organization tasked with one of the most challenging jobs in public service."
Cheatle took “full responsibility” for the incident at the hearing but repeatedly said she would not resign. On Tuesday, she announced in a letter she was leaving.
“You know what it looks like, Director?” House Judiciary Chair Rep. James Jordan, R-Ky., asked Cheatle at the hearing, as The Center Square previously reported. “It looks like you won’t answer some pretty basic questions. It looks like you got a 9% raise and that you cut corners when it came to protecting one of the most important, one of the most well-known individuals on the planet, a former president, likely the guy who is going to be the next president. Looks like you guys were cutting corners. That’s what it looks like to me.”
Rep. Mark Green, R-Tenn., who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee, released a statement welcoming Cheatle's resignation.
“I am pleased that Director Cheatle finally did what she should have done days ago—resign," Green said. "Protecting the president of the United States and presidential nominees is the Secret Service’s mission. There is no room for mistakes. Unfortunately, that was not the case here. We witnessed a massive security failure by the Secret Service and the Department of Homeland Security—the closest someone has been to taking the life of a president or presidential candidate since President Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981."
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