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U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle has resigned, after facing calls from both Democrats and Republicans to step down since the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump during a campaign rally on July 13, which left one attendee dead and two others critically injured. Secret Service Deputy Director Ronald Rowe, a 24-year veteran of the U.S. Secret Service, has been named as acting director.
NBC News, which was first to report Cheatle’s resignation, stated that she announced her resignation Tuesday morning in an email to Secret Service employees: “The Secret Service’s solemn mission is to protect our nation’s leaders and financial infrastructure. On July 13th, we fell short on that mission. The scrutiny over the last week has been intense and will continue to remain as our operational tempo increases. As your Director, I take full responsibility for the security lapse.”
After news of Cheatle’s resignation broke, President Biden said in a statement: “She [Cheatle] has selflessly dedicated and risked her life to protect our nation throughout her career in the United States Secret Service. We especially thank her for answering the call to lead the Secret Service during our administration and we are grateful for her service to our family. 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.”
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas thanked Cheatle for her leadership as head of the Secret Service: “Over the past two years, she has led the Secret Service with skill, honor, integrity, and tireless dedication. She is deeply respected by the men and women of the agency and by her fellow leaders in the Department of Homeland Security. I am proud to have worked with Director Cheatle and we are all grateful for her service.”
Cheatle had repeatedly said she would not resign, despite being under scrutiny for the agency’s failure to prevent the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump. In an interview shortly after the attack, she called the incident “unacceptable” and said it was her responsibility to ensure nothing like it would happen again: “The buck stops with me. I am the director of the Secret Service, and I need to make sure that we are performing a review and that we are giving resources to our personnel as necessary.”
During testimony before the House committee on Capitol Hill this past Monday, Cheatle again said she would not resign, but called the assassination attempt on Trump the “most significant operational failure at the Secret Service in decades. The Secret Service’s solemn mission is to protect our nation’s leaders. On July 13, we failed. As the director of the United States Secret Service, I take full responsibility for any security lapse. We are fully cooperating with ongoing investigations. We must learn what happened .. Our mission is not political. It is literally a matter of life and death, as the tragic events on July 13 remind us of that. I have full confidence in the men and women of the Secret Service. They are worthy of our support in executing our protective mission.”
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