Secret Service Head Kimberly Cheatle Resigns After Lackluster Testimony on the Hill

Secret Service director, Kimberly Cheatle, announced she will resign from her post, a day after her wishy-washy testimony before Congress sparked bipartisan calls for her to step down. “I have, and will always put the needs of this agency first. In light of recent events, it is with a heavy heart that I have made the difficult decision to step down as your Director,” Ms. Cheatle wrote in her letter.Many lawmakers had announced that they lost confidence in the security agency head even before her first appearance before Congress Monday, citing her responsibility for the colossal security failure on July 13. By the end of the hearing — which spanned nearly five hours — lawmakers grew frustrated by her carefully-worded answers which left many questions unanswered, and triggered calls for her to resign from both Democrats and Republicans. “Not only should you resign, but if you refuse to do so, President Biden needs to fire you,” Congressman Michael Turner said during his line of questioning. Other representatives chimed in with — at times, expletive-filled — condemnations of Ms. Cheatle for her refusal to answer simple questions about the events which led to the assassination attempt on President Trump during a rally in Pennsylvania. A few hours after the hearing concluded, two unlikely allies, the Republican leader of the Oversight panel, Congressman James Comer, and its ranking Democratic member, Representative Jamie Raskin, issued a letter to Ms. Cheatle urging her to resign. “Today you failed to provide answers to basic questions regarding that stunning operational failure,” they wrote in a rare joint statement. “You failed to reassure the American people that the Secret Service has learned its lessons and begun to correct its systemic blunders and failures.”Following the news of her resignation, Speaker Johnson said that he was “happy” to see that she had recused herself from her post, adding, “I wish she had done it sooner. Accountability begins at the top.” Her decision to resign marks a reversal from previous statements, made as recently as yesterday, in which she described herself as “the best person to lead the Secret Service at this time.”

Secret Service Head Kimberly Cheatle Resigns After Lackluster Testimony on the Hill

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