Secret Service director resigns

One day after a confrontational hearing in the House of Representatives, Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned from her post on Tuesday—a decision that received bipartisan praise from lawmakers.

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., told WORLD he celebrated Cheatle’s announcement.

“This is great news,” Raskin said. “The security lapses and blunders that led to July 13 need serious, aggressive, and swift leadership. And she wasn’t providing it.”

Republicans and Democrats alike expressed surprise at Cheatle’s responses during Monday’s hearing to several key questions surrounding the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump earlier this month: how had a lone gunman managed to reach a vantage point with a direct line of sight to the former president? Why hadn’t he been stopped? Why wasn’t Trump immediately taken off the stage when signs of suspicious activity surfaced?

Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., who contended that Cheatle was purposefully evading congressional oversight, filed impeachment articles later Monday to remove the director.

Following Cheatle’s resignation, Mace said she’s considering whether to continue with her effort. She had submitted the articles as a privileged motion, which would force a House vote on the matter within two legislative days.

“I’m reaching out to the parliamentarian now to see if there is a process to withdraw,” she said, adding, though, that impeachment can move forward even after an official leaves office. “I’ll make a decision on that in the next few hours,” she said.

Mace said that she still believes that Congress has the grounds to proceed.

“High crimes and misdemeanors would be her dereliction of duty here. And yesterday both Democrats and Republicans alike [were] coming together, unifying the country on this issue. Everyone agreed that she has to go,” Mace said. “If she wasn’t going to be fired this was the second-best thing.”

House Republicans are still weighing how best to hold the agency accountable after the Secret Service’s performance in Butler, Pa., on July 13. Some members are torn between whether to continue the process as a special commission or whether to refer the matter to the Committee on Homeland Security.

Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., believes those considerations are a little beside the point. He thinks the American people want answers—and soon.

“What I’m afraid of is that we’re going to delay the vote, that it will be seven months out. And Americans want their pizzas in 30 minutes or less and that’s about our attention spans,” Burchett said. “[The Secret Service] will come back and say, ‘We need more money,’ and then we’ll relinquish and give them another billion dollars and they won’t correct the problem.”

Burchett added that he wouldn’t object to the Homeland Security Committee’s leadership on the matter.

After Cheatle’s resignation, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas appointed Ronald Rowe as acting director of the Secret Service. According to the press release announcing the decision, Rowe has 24 years of service in the agency, previously working as the assistant director for the Office of Intergovernmental and Legislative Affairs, among other leadership positions.