U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle has tendered her resignation following bipartisan protests over security flaws that enabled the failed assassination attempt against Donald Trump on July 13.
Over the last two weeks, Cheatle faced a barrage of criticism and strong calls for her resignation after former President Donald Trump narrowly escaped a shooting attack during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
On Monday, House Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and ranking Democrat Jamie Raskin (Md.) led the charge against the officer. In a letter written after the hearing, they accused her of failing to address the “stunning operational failure” and of being unable to provide reassurances that the Secret Service had learned from its mistakes.
“I take full responsibility for any security lapse of our agency,” she replied, maintaining a calm demeanor as lawmakers accused her of dodging questions and even mocked her.
Commenting on Cheatle’s resignation, House Speaker Mike Johnson call the move “overdue.” “Now we have to pick up the pieces,” Johnson said. “We have to rebuild the American people’s faith and trust in the Secret Service as an agency. It has an incredibly important responsibility in protecting presidents, former presidents, and other officials in the executive branch, and we’ve got a lot of work to do.”
Cheatle’s tenure as Secret Service Director, beginning in September 2022, was supposed to be a capstone to a distinguished 25-year career. She had broken barriers as the first woman to run the Atlanta office and to become Assistant Director of the Office of Protective Operations.
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