United States (US) Secret Service director Kim Cheatle has resigned after security failures surrounding an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.
“As your director, I take full responsibility for the security lapse,” Ms Cheatle said in a resignation letter to agency staff yesterday.
She had faced calls from both Democrats and Republicans to step down after a contentious House Committee hearing on Monday on the incident.
The lawmakers became increasingly frustrated when she refused to answer questions about the shooting at Trump’s campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania earlier this month.
In her resignation letter, Ms Cheatle said she had always “put the needs of the agency first” and it was “with a heavy heart” that she made her decision.
“The scrutiny over the last week has been intense and will continue to remain as our operational tempo increases,” she said.
“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,” she said.
President Joe Biden said in a statement that he was grateful for her decades of public service.
“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.
For now, the Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas has appointed Ronald Rowe as acting director of the agency as President Biden prepares to appoint a new director soon.
Rowe, a 24-year Secret Service veteran, has held the position of deputy director since April 2023.
The president appointed Cheatle to head the Secret Service – which oversees the protection of current and former presidents and other officials – in 2022. She had previously served 27 years at the agency in various roles.
During her time as an agent, Cheatle was involved in evacuating then Vice-President Dick Cheney from the White House during the September 11, 2001 attacks.
She later went on to become supervisor of Biden’s protective detail when he was vice-president, before she became the deputy assistant director of protective operations.
But her leadership came under question after the shooting at Trump’s 13th July rally, where a bullet grazed the former president’s ear. The attack left one audience member dead and two others badly wounded.
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