AILSA CHANG, HOST:
The director of the U.S. Secret Service, Kimberly Cheatle, has resigned, ending her 29-year career with the agency. Just yesterday she told members of a House committee investigating the attempted assassination of former President Trump that she should have this job.
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VIRGINIA FOXX: But you think you are the best person in the country to head the Secret Service.
KIMBERLY CHEATLE: I think that I am the best person to lead the Secret Service at this time.
CHANG: Well, by the end of the contentious, nearly five-hour hearing, Democrats joined Republicans in accusing Cheatle of stonewalling and asked for her resignation. Joining us now is NPR congressional correspondent, Claudia Grisales. Hi, Claudia.
CLAUDIA GRISALES, BYLINE: Hey, Ailsa.
CHANG: OK, so what do we know about why specifically Cheatle decided to resign?
GRISALES: Well, she sent a letter to Secret Service staff where she said she made the decision with a heavy heart and also echoed some of her statements before members of Congress yesterday. And I've been able to confirm the details of that letter. In it, she said top agency - the top agency mission is to protect the nation's leaders. But they fell short on July 13, the date of the shooting at the Trump rally in Butler, Pa. And she acknowledged the scrutiny over the past week has been intense and will continue. She said, as director, she takes full responsibility for the security lapse. She went on to argue that this incident does not define the Secret Service. And she says now the agency will be able to move forward with their mission without the distraction of demands coming from Hill members and others wanting her to quit.
CHANG: OK. Moving forward with the mission, I mean, what comes next for the Secret Service?
GRISALES: Well, President Biden thanked Cheatle for her service and accepted her resignation. He says the administration's independent review will continue, and he said he will appoint a new secret service director soon. The investigation is just one of many into the failures that led to the shooting.
CHANG: Yeah. So then how much of a surprise was this resignation, really?
GRISALES: Not too much. The pressure for her to resign was only building. And the House was preparing to vote on a resolution to impeach Cheatle this week. Now, if you were watching yesterday's House oversight hearing, it began with the chairman, James Comer, asking Cheatle to resign. However, she was steadfast in saying - she was saying she was the best person for the job, as we heard there at the top. But question after question, Cheatle failed to share basic information. And Democrats, including the top-ranking Democratic member Jamie Raskin, joined Comer and other Republicans by the end of the hearing calling for her resignation. And both Comer and Raskin sent a rare letter asking for her to step down.
CHANG: And how have other lawmakers been responding?
GRISALES: We have seen members from both sides of the aisle applaud the move. House Speaker Mike Johnson, one of the first members to weigh in, said he was happy Cheatle heeded the calls.
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MIKE JOHNSON: Now we have to pick up the pieces. We have to rebuild the American people's faith and trust in the Secret Service as an agency. It has an incredibly important responsibility in protecting presidents, former presidents and other officials in the executive branch. And we've got a lot of work to do.
GRISALES: Comer and Raskin, the Republican and Democratic leaders of that oversight committee, also praised the move. Both said Monday's hearing made it clear she had to step down, and this comes on the same day Johnson and House Democratic leader Hakim Jeffries formally announced a bipartisan task force to investigate the security lapses that led to this assassination attempt.
CHANG: That is NPR's Claudia Grisales. Thank you so much, Claudia.
GRISALES: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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