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Republicans and Democrats on Oversight Committee Jointly Call for Cheatle's Resignation

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  July 22, 2024 6:15 PM

Pretty much from the start, the reports about how the U.S. Secret Service handled the assassination attempt against former and potentially future President Donald Trump on July 13 have been damning. It was thus likely that Director Kimberly Cheatle was going to have a pretty awful time testifying before Congress. Cheatle just earlier on Monday wrapped up testifying before the House Oversight Committee, after which Chairman James Comer (R-KY) and Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-MD) both signed a letter calling for her to resign

The letter has been shared to both parties' X accounts and is the pinned post for House Republicans on the Oversight Committee.


"Today, you failed to provide answers to basic questions regarding that stunning operational failure and to reassure the American people that the Secret Service has learned its lessons and begun to correct its systemic blunders and failures. In the middle of a presidential election, the Committee and the American people demand serious institutional accountability and transparency that you are not providing," the brief letter reads in part. "We call on you to resign as Director as a first step to allowing new leadership to swiftly address this crisis and rebuild the trust of a truly concerned Congress and the American people," the letter continued.

As the letter has been circulating over X, many users have pointed out that this is a rare form of agreement between Comer and Raskin on the Committee.

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While many Democrats chose to use their time to focus on gun control, they also went after Cheatle as well, including Raskin, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), and even Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY). 

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) came off as particularly appalled at Cheatle, even using explicit language during her time. Mace asked the director if she'd like to use the five minutes allotted to draft up her resignation letter, but Cheatle declined.

Also on Monday, Rep. Nick Langworthy (R-NY), who sits on the Committee, drafted a resolution calling for the termination of Cheatle. 

"U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle must be held accountable for the unacceptable failure to keep President Trump and rallygoers safe on July 13th," said Langworthy. "In our Oversight hearing today, she did nothing but dodge questions and deflect blame. Corey Comperatore is dead because of this failure of the Secret Service. The American people deserve transparency and competence from their leaders, especially those tasked with the critical responsibility of protecting our nation's highest office. She must be fired now."

Even after Monday's hearing came to a close, more damning information has continued to come out. As Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) shared, whistleblowers have come forth with information that law enforcement was stationed on the roof on the day of the Trump rally, but went back inside because it was considered too hot. 

He also posted a letter directed to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas asking additional questions that he expects to hear back about on July 26.