A bipartisan group on the House Oversight Committee is calling for Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to resign, saying she asked more questions than she answered during hearings into the assassination attempt on former President Trump.
Reps. Byron Donald, R-Fla., and Ro Khanna, D-Calif., appeared on “Fox & Friends” to discuss why they are calling for Cheatle’s resignation after he refused to answer most questions during his congressional testimony on Monday.
Top Republican warns of ‘shocking revelations’ if ‘obstruction’ continues as Secret Service faces public hearings
“Anyone who’s watched the Oversight Committee knows that the Oversight Committee doesn’t always agree, but on this occasion they were essentially unanimous,” Donald told Lawrence Jones on Tuesday. “She needs to resign immediately. She should have resigned yesterday, she needs to resign today. The Secret Service’s mission is to protect all former presidents and their families and other important figures and leaders.”
“This isn’t just about President Trump. His life is at risk,” he continued. “This is about Presidents Obama, Clinton, Bush and Biden. This is a very serious issue. Members of Congress will not stop calling for her resignation.”
WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 22: Director of the U.S. Secret Service Kimberly Cheatle testifies before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee during a hearing at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, DC on July 22, 2024. The leader of the embattled U.S. Secret Service has vowed to cooperate with any investigation into the agency following the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump. (Photo by Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)
Testifying under subpoena on Monday, Cheatle declined to answer most of lawmakers’ questions about security failings leading up to the shooting at President Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, repeatedly citing the fact that the incident remains under criminal investigation.
She acknowledged under oath that the Secret Service “failed” to fulfill its duties on July 13, but made it clear she would not resign, despite bipartisan calls for it.
“The Secret Service’s solemn mission is to protect our nation’s leaders. On July 13th, we failed in that mission,” Cheatle said in his opening statement. “As Director of the United States Secret Service, I take full responsibility for any and all security failings at our agency. We are cooperating fully with the ongoing investigation. We must find out what happened, and I will do everything in my power to ensure that an incident like July 13th never happens again.”
Rep. Mace calls Secret Service Director Cheatle’s response “a blunder”
“She needs to step down,” Khanna said. “This is not a partisan issue. There has been a clear failure to protect the former president and to protect the presidential candidate, and she has absolutely no public trust. There are a lot of people who don’t trust her. So she needs to step aside.”
“I just don’t understand why she wants to stay on as director of the Secret Service at this point,” he continued. “She needs the trust of all Americans. The Secret Service is not a political office. It’s there to protect our leaders. And she doesn’t have that trust. With an American citizenship that is so polarized and losing faith in our government, she needs to do the right thing.”
At the hearing, Khanna asked Cheatle whether he considered the assassination attempt “the most significant security failure since the assassination of President Reagan in 1981.”
She said yes, and he used that as a justification for arguing that she should resign. She has so far refused to resign.
“She was extremely evasive and obstructive,” Donald said. “As Roe said, she has not given any member of Congress any confidence that she is prepared to do the work necessary to right the wrongs that occurred that day and ensure that it never happens again. In my opinion, she should resign. She should be fired. I am astonished that she is still director of the Secret Service to this day.”
“There has to be real accountability. You can’t have politics and everyone just saying, ‘I take responsibility. I take responsibility. This is my fault. I am deeply sorry.’ That’s not enough. The Secret Service has a different mission than most other federal agencies. This is a very serious matter. She must resign,” he continued.
Click here to get the FOX News app
