Secret Service head resigns over Trump shooting security lapses

Kimberly Cheatle sitting at a table with a small microphone, looking up

July 23, 2024 Updated 1:11 PM PT

The director of the Secret Service resigned Tuesday amid growing criticism over security lapses during the assassination attempt against former President Trump.

Kimberly Cheatle had faced calls to step down from both Democrats and Republicans.

“I take full responsibility for the security lapse,” she said in an email to staff Tuesday. “In light of recent events, it is with a heavy heart that I have made the difficult decision to step down as your director.”

In a stunning admission Monday, she said that local authorities had observed and photographed the man who would shoot at Trump 18 minutes before the former president took the stage at a rally in Pennsylvania.

It was one of several security lapses revealed at a congressional committee hearing into what Cheatle described as the agency’s “most significant operational failure” in decades.

In her letter to Secret Service staff, Cheatle said the series of failures that led to the shooting “does not define us.”

“As I’ve stated, the Secret Service will move forward with our investigatory and protective mission in a steadfast manner. We do not retreat from challenge,” she wrote. “However, I do not want my calls for resignation to be a distraction from the great work each and every one of you do towards our vital mission.”

Ronald L. Rowe Jr. a 24-year veteran of the Secret Service, was appointed Tuesday as the agency’s acting director by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas.

“I appreciate his willingness to lead the Secret Service at this incredibly challenging moment, as the agency works to get to the bottom of exactly what happened on July 13 and cooperate with ongoing investigations and Congressional oversight,” Mayorkas said in a statement.

Cheatle, a 29-year veteran of the Secret Service, previously served under former President Clinton, led protection for former Vice President Dick Cheney and oversaw the agency’s protective mission during Trump’s time in office. She retired briefly before returning in August 2022 to assume the role of director.

But after she sat for a four-hour congressional hearing with few answers for lawmakers, calls for her resignation grew louder.

President Biden thanked Cheatle on Tuesday for her time serving the agency.

“As a leader, it takes honor, courage, and incredible integrity to take full responsibility for an organization tasked with one of the most challenging jobs in public service,” Biden said in a statement.

“The independent review to get to the bottom of what happened on July 13 continues, and I look forward to assessing its conclusions. We all know what happened that day can never happen again,” he said. “As we move forward, I wish Kim all the best, and I will plan to appoint a new Director soon.”

Trump politicized the news in a post on his social media platform Truth Social shortly after Cheatle resigned, blaming the current administration for the shooting and stating he was “forced to take a bullet for Democracy,” and adding: “IT WAS MY GREAT HONOR TO DO SO!”

During Monday’s congressional hearing, Cheatle revealed that local law enforcement had sent multiple messages to the Secret Service that day about a suspicious man, later identified as the shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks.

The new information sparked outrage from lawmakers and a rare moment of agreement between House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) and ranking member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), as both called on Cheatle to resign.

“I ... didn’t see any daylight between the members of the two parties today at the hearing in terms of our bafflement and outrage about the shocking operational failures that led to this disaster,” Raskin said.

Crooks, 20, reportedly fired eight shots at Trump from a rooftop during a campaign event that day, injuring Trump’s ear, killing a spectator and wounding two others. Within 10 seconds of the first shot, Crooks was killed by a Secret Service sniper.

But questions from members of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability about how a man with a rifle was able to get within firing range of the former president — on a rooftop uncovered by the Secret Service, no less — went mostly unanswered.

On Tuesday, Comer promised there would be more accountability for the security failures that led to the shooting.

“At yesterday’s Oversight Committee hearing, Director Cheatle instilled no confidence that she has the ability to ensure the Secret Service can meet its protective mission,” Comer said in a statement. “While Director Cheatle’s resignation is a step toward accountability, we need a full accounting of how these security failures happened so that we can prevent them going forward.”

The Secret Service’s roughly $3-billion budget will likely receive considerable scrutiny in response to the shooting.

Several Republicans questioned at Monday’s hearing whether the agency truly prioritizes protection. The Secret Service has more than 8,000 employees, but the number of personnel associated with protection detail has declined from 4,027 to 3,671 in the last decade. The decline in the number of field agents was first reported by NBC News.

Mayorkas thanked Cheatle for her years of service.

“She is deeply respected by the men and women of the agency and by her fellow leaders in the Department of Homeland Security,” he said in a statement. “I am proud to have worked with Director Cheatle and we are all grateful for her service.”

Sources familiar with the investigation into the shooting say Cheatle had been persuaded by Mayorkas and others to step down because she had become a distraction to fixing the agency’s problems. The sources said they hope that Congress will now address deficiencies in the service.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said Cheatle’s resignation was overdue.

“She should have done this at least a week ago,” Johnson said. “Now we have to pick up the pieces. We have to rebuild the American people’s faith and trust in the Secret Service as an agency.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Secret Service director resigns amid anger over Trump shooting security lapses

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