The United States of America’s Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle has tendered her resignation following the fallout from the recent attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.
Ms Cheatle was appointed Director of the Secret Service in 2022 by President Joe Biden. She had served in the agency in various capacities for 27 years.
Calls for resignation
Cheatle’s resignation comes a day after a House Oversight Committee hearing, where Ms Cheatle was questioned regarding her agency’s preparations in the lead up to the 13 July rally where the assassination attempt was made.
During the nearly six hours long hearing, Cheatle was grilled over how the 20-year-old gunman was able to evade security and in a position to take a shot at the ex-President.
Furthermore, it was reported that a suspicious person, who turned out to be the gunman, had been reported. Yet, Trump was allowed to take the stage and address the audience.
She further angered both Republican and Democratic lawmakers when she repeatedly evaded basic questions regarding the investigation of the 13 July incident.
In a rare show of bipartisan unity, both Republican and Democratic lawmakers called on her immediate resignation, stating that she had “lost the confidence of Congress” according to Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin, the ranking member of the committee.
Republican Rep. John Comer, chairman of the House Oversight Committee added that she “answered more questions with an ABC reporter than you have with members of Congress.”, referring to an interview Cheatle had done with ABC News, two days after the incident.
Although Cheatle had taken responsibility during the hearing for the security lapses, and that the incident was the “most significant operational failure of the Secret Service in decades”, she remained defiant during the hearing that she was the “best person to lead the Secret Service at this time”.
Republican Rep. Nancy Mace had suggested Cheatle begin drafting her resignation, to which Cheatle responded, “No, thank you.”
Pressured into Resignation
Despite her defiance at the hearing, Cheatle tendered her resignation on Tuesday.
Cheatle stated in her resignation that she made the “difficult decision” to leave the agency.
She added that “as [the Secret Service’s] director, [She] take[s] full responsibility for the security lapse.”
In the letter, she said that she had always “put the needs of the agency first” and was “with a heavy heart” that she had decided to leave.
She further explained that she did not want the calls for her resignation to be a “distraction from the great work” that the Secret Service did.
Biden has since said in a statement that he was “grateful for her decades of public service.”
He added that “as a leader, it takes honour, courage, and incredible integrity to take full responsibility for an organisation tasked with one of the most challenging jobs in public service.”
The President has stated that he would appoint a new director soon. Deputy Director Ronald Rowe will now perform the role of acting Director of the agency for the time being.
You can watch this video to know how the attempted assassination might have influenced the election:
