Rep. Ro Khanna Urges Secret Service Director to Resign

In a heated House hearing on Monday, Congressman Ro Khanna (D-CA) demanded that Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle step down following the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump. Khanna, representing California's 17th Congressional District, criticized Cheatle for losing the public's trust after the security failure at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.

“I don’t think this is partisan. If you have an assassination attempt on a president, a former president, or a candidate, you need to resign,” Khanna asserted during Cheatle's testimony.

• Khanna highlighted the severity of the incident, likening it to the 1981 assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan. When asked if this was the most serious security lapse since Reagan, Cheatle agreed, "Yes sir, I would."

• The Congressman referenced Stuart Knight, the Secret Service Director during the Reagan incident, correcting Cheatle’s misconception that Knight stayed on duty. "He resigned," Khanna pointed out.

Despite repeated calls for her resignation, Cheatle stood firm, insisting on her commitment to her role. “I will remain on, and be responsible to the agency, to this committee, to the former president, and the American public,” she declared.

Khanna pressed further, questioning the appropriateness of Cheatle's continued service given the nation's deep divisions. “Do you really believe, given how divided the country is, that your service in this role is the best for the nation?” he asked. “We’ve got to have agencies in this country that transcend politics, that have the confidence of Democrats, Republicans.”

Khanna was not alone in his demands. Representative Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) also clashed with Cheatle over her unwillingness to commit to firing Secret Service personnel. “The reason why members of this committee are calling for resignation — and I join in that — or for the president to fire you, is because you’re saying there’s going to be accountability, but you can’t commit that people are going to get fired,” Moskowitz stated.

The pressure on Cheatle to resign underscores the intense scrutiny and expectations for accountability within the Secret Service following such a critical security breach.

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