Secret Service Director Kim Cheatle resigned on Tuesday, a day after she was grilled in a tense hearing on Capitol Hill about the security failures that led to the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at a rally in Butler, Pa., earlier this month.
“In light of recent events, it is with a heavy heart that I have made the difficult decision to step down as your Director,” Cheatle wrote in an email to her staff.
She had served in the Secret Service for more than 29 years and had been in the director’s role since 2022. Secret Service Deputy Director Ronald Rowe was appointed as acting director until a permanent replacement is chosen.
➡️ What Cheatle said at the hearing
“We failed,” Cheadle said during her testimony before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee. “As the director of the United States Secret Service, I take full responsibility for any security lapse.”
But Cheatle said she could not answer specific questions about the security failures that allowed a gunman to access a rooftop from which he was able to shoot at the former president.
“I’m not going to get into specifics of the day,” Cheatle testified, citing an ongoing investigation. “There was a plan in place to provide overwatch, and we are still looking into responsibilities.”
↘️ How the committee responded
Lawmakers from both parties expressed frustration over the lack of substantial answers Cheatle provided about the July 13 shooting, which she acknowledged was the “most significant operational failure of the Secret Service in decades.”
After the hearing, they issued a joint letter calling on Cheatle to resign.
🔎 What led to the security failure?
The shooting left Trump and two spectators wounded and Corey Comperatore, a 50-year-old former fire chief, dead.
The FBI identified the gunman as Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old from Bethel Park, Pa., who was killed by a Secret Service countersniper.
At Monday’s hearing, Cheatle acknowledged that the Secret Secret had been notified of a “suspicious person” by local law enforcement “somewhere between two and five times” before the shooting.
But the agency did not consider the “suspicious” person a “threat” until seconds before the gunfire started, she said.
🇺🇲 How Biden responded to Cheatle’s resignation
In a statement, Biden thanked Cheatle “for her decades of public service” and said he looks forward to “assessing” the conclusions of the independent review he ordered following the July 13 attack.
“We all know what happened that day can never happen again,” Biden said, adding: “As we move forward, I wish Kim all the best, and I will plan to appoint a new Director soon.”
