LAUREL, MARYLAND (May 10, 2024) Director of the United States Secret Service, Kimberly Cheatle, speaks during the Secret Service Wall of Honor Ceremony at the James J. Rowley Training Center in Laurel, Maryland. (DHS photo by Tia Dufour)
- Cheatle has served as the Secret Service Director since 2022. Calls for her resignation came after security failures led to the attempted assassination of former President Trump.
The White House announced on Tuesday that Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned a day after facing harsh criticism in a grueling Congressional hearing in the House Oversight Committee on Monday.
Democrat and Republican House Committee members were largely unified in calls for Cheatle to resign in the wake of the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.
In a statement released by the White House, President Joe Biden thanked Cheatle for her decades of public service.
“She has selflessly dedicated and risked her life to protect our nation throughout her career in the United States Secret Service,” President Biden stated. “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.”
Former President Trump, who posted on Truth Social near the time Cheatle’s resignation was announced, stated, “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!”
Cheatle has served as the Secret Service Director since 2022. She previously worked in a lead security role at PepsiCo after serving in the Secret Service for 27 years.
In the hearing on Monday, Cheatle took responsibility for the security failures that led to a would-be assassin taking aim and injuring Trump along with two others, while killing an attendee at the Republican nominee’s campaign rally in Pennsylvania. However, she would not openly answer Committee members’ questions, referring to them to the FBI as the investigating agency.
Congressman James Comer, the House Oversight Committee chairman, welcomed the news of Cheatle’s resignation.
“While Director Cheatle’s resignation is a step toward accountability, we need a full review of how these security failures happened so that we can prevent them going forward,” Comer said in a statement.
President Biden praised Cheatle for her “honor, courage, and incredible integrity to take full responsibility for an organization tasked with one of the most challenging jobs in public service.”
Biden’s statement went on to say that the independent review of the July 13 incident he ordered continues, saying he looks forward to assessing its conclusions.
“We all know what happened that day can never happen again,” Biden said, adding, “As we move forward, I wish Kim all the best, and I will plan to appoint a new Director soon.”
No timeline has been set on when the President will name a new appointee to led the Secret Service.
