After an explosive hearing in front of the House Oversight Committee, Secret Service Director Kim Cheatle’s job may be more at risk than ever.
Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina announced that she had filed a privileged motion to impeach the embattled director on Monday, hours after the conclusion of the House committer hearing.
Just filed a privileged motion to impeach Kim Cheatle, Director of the Secret Service. This will force a vote within the next 48 hours.
— Nancy Mace (@NancyMace) July 23, 2024
The anger over the Secret Service’s failure to protect former president Donald Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, has been seen across the political spectrum. Even progressive Democrats like Ro Khanna were extremely tough in their grilling of the Secret Service chief.
KHANNA: Now, Director Cheatle, would you agree that this is the most serious security lapse since President Reagan was shot in 1981 — of the Secret Service?
CHEATLE: Yes, sir, I would.
KHANNA: And…do you know what Stuart Knight did when — he was in charge, at the time, of the Secret Service — do you know what he did…afterwards?
CHEATLE: He remained on duty.
KHANNA: He resigned. He resigned. And Stuart Knight was not a Democratic appointee or Republican appointee. Look, I’m not questioning your judgment — I just don’t think this is partisan. If you have an assassination attempt on a president, a former president, or a candidate, you need to resign. That’s what Stuart Knight did. He was a Republican appointee, and he took responsibility. And I think you need to reflect. This is not a question of you; it’s a question of the American people. You cannot go leading a Secret Service agency when there is an assassination attempt on a presidential candidate.
READ MORE:
Rare Bipartisanship: Even Dems Like Ro Khanna and Kweisi Mfume Call on Cheatle to Resign
Rep. Mike Waltz Gives Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle No Quarter in Oversight Hearing
Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona also demanded more answers after the hearing, apparently frustrated with the lack of answers from Cheatle.
“It is unfathomable that an assassin was able to gain access to and fire shots at President Trump from an unsecure building with a direct line of sight to the rally stage,” Biggs told Cheatle in a letter sent after Monday’s hearing. “It is equally unfathomable that public reporting suggests that U.S. Secret Service had identified the building as a potential vulnerability and failed to include that vulnerability within the security perimeter or otherwise ensure its security.”
Director Cheatle sat in front of our committee for hours and provided no substantive answers for her agency’s failures.
This is unacceptable coming from the head of the Secret Service.
Following today’s @GOPOversight hearing, I wrote to her demanding additional information. https://t.co/kajzjBiHZb pic.twitter.com/fNEQnrKHbC
— Rep Andy Biggs (@RepAndyBiggsAZ) July 22, 2024
Cheatle’s hold over her job appears to be crumbling. While President Joe Biden has voiced his continued support for Cheatle, members of his own party have become increasingly hostile to the very idea that she still has a job.
