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The Secret Service director has stepped down from her job following security failures at a rally where a 20-year-old gunman attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump.
Kimberly Cheatle had been facing growing calls to resign and several investigations into how the shooter was able to get so close to the Republican presidential nominee.
President Joe Biden says he’s grateful for Cheatle’s decades of public service and says he will soon appoint a new leader for the agency.
In a statement shortly after Cheatle announced her resignation, Biden said Cheatle “selflessly dedicated and risked her life to protect our nation” and said he wishes her “all the best.”
“The independent review to get to the bottom of what happened on July 13 continues, and I look forward to assessing its conclusions,” Biden said. “We all know what happened that day can never happen again.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson said the resignation of Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle was “overdue” and that it should have happened at least a week ago.
News of Cheatle’s resignation happened just as Johnson and Republican leaders were wrapping up their weekly press conference Tuesday morning.
“I’m happy to see that,” Johnson said. “I’m happy to see she has heeded the call of both Republicans and Democrats. 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.”
Earlier Tuesday, Johnson and Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries announced the formation of a bipartisan task force to investigate the attempted assassination of former President Trump and the security failures that led up to it.
Minutes after news of Cheatle’s resignation broke, Trump posted a statement on his social media network saying: “The Biden/Harris Administration did not properly protect me, and I was forced to take a bullet for Democracy. IT WAS MY GREAT HONOR TO DO SO!”
Trump’s campaign did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment on Cheatle’s resignation. It was not clear if Trump’s post was in reaction to the news about the Secret Service director’s resignation.
Cheatle announced her departure in an email she sent to staff.
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