Bi-partisan effort leads to Cheatle's resignation

Republican and Democratic members of Congress can work together for the good of the country.

I saw it and heard it on television with my own eyes, but at first I did not believe it. The House of Representatives Oversight Committee was grilling the director of the U.S. Secret Service on Monday.

I expected Republicans to blast the Secret Service director. I didn’t expect Democrats to chime in.

I can’t remember the last time that Republicans and Democrats at Congress seemed to be on the same team regarding any issue.

And then it happened.

U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned yesterday after she and her agency came under such harsh, bi-partisan scrutiny the day before for their terribly inept failure to stop a would-be assassin from wounding former President Donald Trump during a campaign rally.

The Secret Service, which is responsible for the protection of current and former U.S. presidents, is facing a major crisis after a gunman was able to fire on Trump from a roof about 130 yards away overlooking the outdoor rally in Butler, Penn. on July 13.

Secret Service Deputy Director Ronald Rowe, a 24-year veteran of the agency, will serve as acting director, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said.

Members of Congress say their investigations into the failed efforts of the Secret Service at the outdoor Trump rally are just getting started.

That’s a good deal because there are lots of questions about the shooting and Cheatle did nothing to quell the suspicions of the Congress people and the American people.

The Secret Service faces investigations from multiple congressional committees and the internal watchdog of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, its parent organization, over its poor performance.

Cheatle faced bipartisan condemnation when she appeared before the House Committee Monday and declined to answer questions from frustrated lawmakers about the security plan for the rally and how law enforcement responded to the suspicious behavior of the gunman.

Several Republican and Democratic lawmakers that day called on her to resign.

Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, was grazed in the right ear and one rallygoer was killed in the gunfire from a high-powered rifle. The gunman, identified as a 20-year-old Thomas Crooks, was shot and killed by a Secret Service sniper.

Cheatle led the agency since 2022. She told lawmakers she took responsibility for the shooting, calling it the largest failure by the Secret Service since then-President Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981.

Much of the Secret Service criticism has focused on the failure to secure the roof of an industrial building where the gunman was perched in broad daylight, visible to many rally-goers, several minutes before the shooting occurred..

Though in close rifle range, the rooftop was declared outside the Secret Service security perimeter for the event, a decision criticized by former agents and lawmakers.

It’s terrible to think that the once premier security agency in the world  is now unable to protect our nation’s leaders. On the other hand, it’s refreshing to think that Democrats and Republicans at Congress can really come together to try to fix things when they think it is necessary to do so. We’d all like to see more of that,  wouldn’t we?                                       David Powls