US Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned on Tuesday, a day after admitting that the agency failed to prevent an assassination attempt on Donald Trump.
Cheatle faced bipartisan calls for her resignation after a 20-year-old gunman wounded the former Republican president and current White House candidate at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13.
“It’s overdue; she should have done this at least a week ago,” Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson told reporters. “I’m happy to see she has heeded the call of both Republicans and Democrats.”
President Joe Biden thanked Cheatle for her nearly three decades of service in the Secret Service, stating she had “selflessly dedicated and risked her life to protect our nation throughout her career.”
“We all know what happened that day can never happen again,” Biden said in a statement. “As we move forward, I wish Kim all the best, and I plan to appoint a new director soon.”
Cheatle appeared before a congressional committee on Monday, acknowledging that the attack on Trump, who was slightly wounded in his right ear, was a significant failure by the Secret Service.
She called it “the most significant operational failure of the Secret Service in decades.”
Both Republicans and Democrats demanded Cheatle’s resignation, expressing frustration over her refusal to provide specific details about the attack, citing ongoing investigations.
The gunman, armed with an AR-style assault rifle, opened fire on Trump just minutes after he began speaking at the rally. A Secret Service sniper killed the shooter less than 30 seconds after he fired the first of eight shots.
Investigators concluded that the gunman, who lived about 80 kilometers from Butler, acted alone and had no strong ideological or political motivations.
Two rally attendees were seriously wounded, and a 50-year-old Pennsylvania firefighter, Corey Comperatore, was killed.
Trump’s former physician said over the weekend that the Republican candidate sustained a two-centimeter (almost one inch) gunshot wound on his right ear.
“The bullet passed, coming less than a quarter of an inch from entering his head, and struck the top of his right ear,” said former White House physician Ronny Jackson.
Cheatle served as a Secret Service agent for 27 years before leaving in 2021 to become the head of security for PepsiCo in North America. President Biden appointed her as the head of the Secret Service in 2022.
