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As a member of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, Alabama Representative Gary Palmer was able to question Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle for five minutes on Monday.
Following the unsuccessful assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally earlier this month, Republicans and Democrats have been increasingly critical of the Secret Service and Cheatle’s performance as the agency’s director.
Palmer specifically asked Cheatle about whether local law enforcement had compromise authority, when the Secret Service knew about threats from Iran, and various details about the sequence of events which occurred that Saturday.
The Congressman’s questions were pointed, especially when Cheatle referred him to another agency or did not fully answer.
When Cheatle said “the former president has a number of threats” after being asked when she was informed of credible threats against the former president, Palmer responded: “There was a credible threat from Iran. When were you informed of that? Answer the question.”
Like many others have in the now over a week since Trump was shot, Palmer also questioned why the rooftop the shooter accessed was unsecured.
“I mean, you could have put Barney Fife on the roof and kept someone from getting up there,” Palmer quipped. Fife is the deputy sheriff character from “The Andy Griffith Show.”
Before yielding the remainder of his time, Palmer told Cheatle, “I don’t understand how you can continue to stay in the position you’re in. This was a failure of historic magnitude.”
After the hearing Monday, he posted to X that “Director Cheatle should resign immediately.”
Palmer is not alone in his calls for Cheatle to resign. Fellow Alabama Representative Robert Aderholt has also been a vocal advocate for Cheatle resigning, and Rep. Barry Moore has suggested he would support it as well.
Congressmen James Comer, R-Tennessee, and Jamie Raskin, D-Maryland, both signed a letter asking Cheatle to “resign as Director as a first step to allowing new leadership to swiftly address this crisis and rebuild the trust of a truly concerned Congress and the American people.” Comer is the chairman of the Oversight Committee and Raskin is the ranking member.
Nationally prominent members of the House like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, have also joined this veritable chorus calling for Cheatle to step down.
Thus far, Cheatle has repeatedly refused to resign her position. Responding to a question from Rep. Ro Khanna, D-California, she said she “will remain on and be responsible to the agency, to this committee, to the former president and to the American public.”
Some, including Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, have called for President Joe Biden to fire Cheatle if she refuses to resign.
At this point, while the Biden administration has already begun an independent investigation, it is unclear whether Biden may fire the current director.
The several investigations into the Secret Service’s failure to prevent the assassination attempt, however, are almost certain to continue in the coming weeks and months.
In a post hearing wrap-up, the House Oversight Committee announced it “will work with Speaker Mike Johnson’s Task Force to investigate this security failure and examine solutions to ensure it does not happen again.”
Editor’s Note: After this story was published, Cheatle officially resigned. President Biden will now appoint a replacement, which will not require Senate approval.
