U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin on Monday called for the head of the Secret Service to resign as lawmakers on Capitol Hill grilled her about security failures surrounding the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump earlier this month.
Asked whether Director Kimberly Cheatle should leave her post, the senior Illinois Democrat responded, “Yes. And I think she ultimately will.”
Durbin, a top Democrat in the Senate and chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, joined a growing chorus from both parties calling for Cheatle to step down. The criticism comes just a month before the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, where the Secret Service is tasked with overseeing a massive security effort.
During the congressional hearing Monday, Cheatle said the July 13 shooting at a Pennsylvania rally was the “most significant operational failure” by the Secret Service in decades. Trump was wounded by the would-be assassin’s bullet, a rallygoer was killed and others were injured. The suspected shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, was shot and killed by Secret Service agents.
“She has told you the reality of the situation, that the Secret Service responsibility was not met,” Durbin said.
While acknowledging her agency’s failure, Cheatle has resisted calls to resign. She still has the support of President Joe Biden and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, the Associated Press reported Monday.
Durbin did praise Cheatle for taking responsibility for what happened.
“She’s been very candid, has she not?” Durbin said. “If you listen to her, she says, ‘Failure is unacceptable in this agency. We failed.’ ”
Hours after Durbin’s remarks on Monday, the two top members of Congress on the House Oversight Committee also called for Cheatle’s resignation.
“Today, you failed to provide answers to basic questions regarding that stunning operational failure and to reassure the American people that the Secret Service has learned its lessons and begun to correct its systemic blunders and failures,” committee Chair James Comer, a Kentucky Republican, and Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland wrote. “In the middle of a presidential election, the Committee and the American people demand serious institutional accountability and transparency that you are not providing.”