United States Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle has resigned after the agency came under harsh scrutiny for its failure to stop a would-be assassin from wounding former President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
The Secret Service director resigned on Tuesday, July 23, 2024.
The Secret Service, which is responsible for the protection of current and former U.S. presidents, faces a crisis after a gunman was able to fire on Trump from a roof overlooking the outdoor rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13.
“The independent review to get to the bottom of what happened on July 13 continues, and I look forward to assessing its conclusions. We all know what happened that day can never happen again,” Democratic President Joe Biden said in a statement.
Secret Service Deputy Director Ronald Rowe, a 24-year veteran of the agency, will serve as acting director, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said.
The Secret Service faces investigations from multiple congressional committees and the internal watchdog of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, its parent organization, over its performance.
Biden, who has ended his reelection campaign, has also called for an independent review.
Cheatle faced bipartisan condemnation when she appeared before the House of Representatives Oversight Committee on Monday, declining to answer questions from frustrated lawmakers about the security plan for the rally and how law enforcement responded to the suspicious behaviour of the gunman.
‘We failed’: U.S. Secret Service director speaks on Trump shooting
Several Republican and Democratic lawmakers had called on her to resign.
Trump was grazed in the right ear and one rallygoer was killed in the gunfire. The gunman, identified as 20-year-old Thomas Crooks, was shot and killed by a Secret Service sniper.
“While Director Cheatle’s resignation is a step toward accountability, we need a full review of how these security failures happened so that we can prevent them going forward,” James Comer, the Republican chair of the House Oversight Committee, said in a statement.
“We will continue our oversight of the Secret Service,” Comer added.
Cheatle, who has led the agency since 2022, told lawmakers she took responsibility for the shooting, calling it the largest failure by the Secret Service since then-President Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981.
House leaders said on Tuesday they planned to form a bipartisan task force to probe the shooting.
Much of the criticism has focused on the failure to secure the roof of an industrial building where the gunman was perched about 150 yards (140 m) from the stage where Trump was speaking, Reuters reports.
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