(NewsNation) — Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle has resigned a little more than a week after the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump at his rally, NewsNation has confirmed.
Cheatle faced calls to step down from lawmakers in both political parties who questioned the agency’s actions in the July 13 shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania. On Monday, she testified publicly in front of the House Oversight Committee after a week of closed-door interviews.
Admitting that the agency “failed,” Cheatle told lawmakers that she takes full responsibility for any security lapse on the day of the attack.
“As an agency, we are fully cooperating with the FBI’s investigation, the oversight you have initiated here, and conducting our own internal mission assurance review at my direction,” she said. “We must learn what happened, and I will move heaven and earth to ensure an incident like July 13 does not happen again. Thinking about what we should have done differently is never far from my thoughts.”
The Associated Press was the first to report the news of Cheatle leaving her position Tuesday, which NewsNation corroborated with Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi.
“I am grateful to Kimberly Cheatle for her leadership as the Director of the United States Secret Service and for her lifelong devotion to our country,” Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas wrote in a statement.
Mayorkas appointed Deputy Director Ronald Rowe, who’s worked for the Secret Service for 23 years, as acting director.
Reaction to Cheatle’s resignation
President Joe Biden expressed gratitude for Cheatle’s “decades of public service.”
“She has selflessly dedicated and risked her life to protect our nation throughout her career in the United States Secret Service,” Biden wrote in a statement, adding that he looks forward to assessing conclusions from an independent review of the Secret Service’s actions on the day of the shooting.
Rep. Mark Green, R-Tenn., said resigning was the right decision for Cheatle — while saying that whoever assessed the situation on the ground at the rally “probably needs to be out of a job too.”
“I’m blown away that she never went to the site (of the shooting),” Green, chair of the House Committee on Homeland Security, said in an interview. “How many assassination attempts? It’s been 40 years since Reagan. She can’t get herself to the site to take a look?”
Noting that the agency still has the “incredibly important responsibility” of rebuilding trust with the American people, House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, called the resignation “overdue.”
“Now we have to pick up the pieces,” he said.
This story is developing. Refresh for updates.
