Photo credit: www.govexec.com
Secret Service Director Resigns Amid Bipartisan Call for Accountability
Kimberly Cheatle, the director of the Secret Service, resigned on Tuesday following widespread bipartisan criticism sparked by an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump. Her resignation comes after a tense hearing where she faced intense scrutiny from lawmakers regarding the agency’s security failures.
In the wake of Cheatle’s departure, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas appointed Ronald Rowe as the acting director. Rowe, who has served as the Secret Service’s deputy director for 24 years, will step in as the agency seeks to regain public trust.
During a recent hearing before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, Cheatle was heavily criticized for the Secret Service’s inability to prevent a gunman from getting close to Trump. Lawmakers expressed frustration not only over the security breach but also over Cheatle’s responses during the inquiry.
Both Republican committee Chairman James Comer of Kentucky and Democratic ranking member Jamie Raskin of Maryland publicly demanded her resignation. “The Oversight Committee’s hearing resulted in Director Cheatle’s resignation, and there will be more accountability to come,” Comer stated. “The Secret Service has a no-fail mission yet it failed historically on Director Cheatle’s watch.”
An investigation into the Secret Service’s management of the recent rally, where one person was fatally shot, several others were injured, and Trump himself was grazed by a bullet, is currently underway. Multiple congressional committees, along with the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general, are looking into the events. Additionally, DHS has initiated an independent review.
On the same day, House leaders introduced plans to form a bipartisan task force to investigate the attempted assassination. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) stated, “The security failures that allowed an assassination attempt on Donald Trump’s life are shocking. We are announcing a House Task Force made up of seven Republicans and six Democrats to thoroughly investigate the matter,” they wrote. The task force is expected to have subpoena authority and aims to work swiftly to uncover the facts and ensure future security lapses do not occur.
The House is anticipated to vote on establishing the task force later this week. President Joe Biden expressed gratitude to Cheatle for her years of service, stating, “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,” he remarked.
Biden also indicated that he would appoint a new director soon. Cheatle had a long tenure with the Secret Service before her temporary departure to serve as senior director of global security for PepsiCo in 2019. She returned to the agency in 2022 under Biden’s administration, becoming the second woman to hold the directorship, following in the footsteps of Julia Pierson.
Pierson resigned in 2014 following her own controversies with security lapses, notably an incident in which an intruder scaled the White House fence and entered the premises unchecked. Such repeated failures have led to growing concerns about the effectiveness and oversight of the Secret Service.
According to a 2023 ranking from the Office of Personnel Management, the Secret Service ranked 403 out of 458 agencies in terms of employee satisfaction regarding senior leadership, highlighting ongoing issues within the agency as it faces a critical juncture in its operational integrity.
Source
www.govexec.com