Republican lawmakers are set to return to Congress on Monday with their focus on the Secret Service director, driven by mounting frustration and anger over the agency’s response to an assassination attempt on Donald Trump.
The first item on their agenda is a House committee hearing on Monday featuring Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle. Speaker Mike Johnson has stated that this hearing will be “must-see TV” for Americans concerned about the security breaches at the Pennsylvania rally.
“She’s got a lot to answer for. And these concerns are bipartisan,” Mr Johnson told CNN on Sunday.
Republicans, who control the House, have united in their calls for Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to resign or be dismissed following the incident where a 20-year-old gunman managed to shoot former President Donald Trump in the ear at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, last Saturday. Many lawmakers confronted her at the Republican convention last week, releasing videos demanding answers.
The Secret Service is responsible for protecting not only the president and his family but also former presidents, other high-ranking officials, and political candidates.
US media reports indicate that Trump had requested additional security in the months leading up to the assassination attempt. However, these requests were either denied or unfulfilled due to staffing shortages. CBS News, the BBC’s news partner, reported that Trump’s security frustrations have persisted for two years.
Agency spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi stated that “in some instances where specific Secret Service specialized units or resources were not provided, the agency made modifications,” including relying on state and local law enforcement.
Eric Trump, the former president’s son, said he had been advocating for increased security throughout the campaign. He blamed the Biden administration and Ms. Cheatle for the assassination attempt, arguing there had been “no accountability” for the agency’s actions.
“She should be out of a job,” he told Fox News.
Speaking to CNN, Mr Johnson said that in addition to the House hearing, lawmakers on Monday would release more details about a bipartisan task force with subpoena authority charged with investigating the Secret Service’s response.
“The initial excuses that [Ms Cheatle] has given for the lapses that happened last Saturday are just unbelievable, so we’re going to get down to the bottom of it,” he said.
Senators are also gearing up to scrutinize the Secret Service. Republican Senator Ron Johnson announced on Fox News that he would soon release “preliminary” findings from his investigation into the attack.
This report aims to encourage people to provide more footage and firsthand accounts. Johnson added that his investigation has become bipartisan, now involving Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut.
The Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general is also investigating the incident, which occurred after the Secret Service had identified the gunman as suspicious about 20 minutes before he opened fire, as revealed by lawmakers this weekend.
Johnson’s appearance on CNN followed reports that top Secret Service officials had denied some requests from Trump’s security team for additional resources in the two years leading up to the assassination attempt.
The Washington Post first reported that the agency had refused requests for more agents and snipers due to resource constraints and staffing shortages.
Johnson blamed the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for not allocating more resources to the Secret Service, which it oversees.
The Republican House speaker told CNN that Congress had increased funding for DHS in recent years, but DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas was responsible for ensuring the Secret Service had sufficient funds.
“Secretary Mayorkas is in charge of that agency. If he needed to allocate more resources to the Secret Service than that should have been done,” Mr Johnson said.
Mr. Johnson mentioned that he had spoken with Mr. Mayorkas just hours after the assassination attempt, and the DHS leader was unable to answer “basic questions,” such as whether the gunman, Thomas Crooks, had used a drone to survey the outdoor rally area.
Law enforcement officials informed US media on Saturday that Crooks had indeed flown a drone above the site before the shooting.
Trump has made several appearances since the incident, including a rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Saturday, where he told the crowd he “took a bullet for democracy.”
On the same day, his former White House physician, Dr. Ronny Jackson, released a statement saying the bullet had created a 2cm-wide wound on Trump’s ear that was beginning to “heal properly.”