- Acting Director Takes Over
By The New Diplomat Political Desk
The United States Director of Secret Service, Kimberly Cheatle, tendered her resignation on Tuesday, following a shooting incident targeted at former president Donald Trump.
Cheatle’s resignation came after she came under public scrutiny with several lawmakers demanding her sack over the shooting incident which has been described as a “targeted assassination”.
On Monday the US House Oversight Committee had its sitting on the campaign rally on July 13, in Butler, Pennsylvania, that led to an attempt on Trump’s life.
Cheatle who appeared before the committee was grilled by both Democratic and Republican lawmakers as they demanded answers about her agency’s security preparations ahead of the rally.
Several lawmakers criticized Cheatle for some of her answers as well as for admitting that the agency didn’t have adequate information before the incident.
Many Republicans had called on her to step down since the incident.
Hours after the interview, Cheatle in an email to Secret Service announced her decision to resign from her position.
She explained that one of the agency’s foremost duties is to protect the nation’s leaders and that it “fell short of that mission” in failing to secure a campaign rally from a gunman on July 13.
The email reads in part: “I do not want my calls for resignation to be a distraction from the great work every one of you does towards our vital mission.”
She said she was deeply committed to the agency but added that “in light of recent events, it is with a heavy heart that I have made the difficult decision to step down as your director.”
The New Diplomat reports that before Cheatle was appointed Secret Service Director in 2022, she led the protection team of Dick Cheney and Joe Biden in their vice-presidential tenures.
Meanwhile, an interim replacement has since been announced on Tuesday.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has revealed that Ronald L Rowe Jr will serve as acting director of the Secret Service.
In a post on X, Mayorkas says he appreciates Rowe’s “willingness to lead the Secret Service at this incredibly challenging moment”.
