Two senators, Chuck Grassley from Iowa and Catherine Cortez Masto from Nevada, have introduced a bill that would mandate Senate confirmation of Secret Service directors and restrict their term limit to 10 years.
On Tuesday, Kimberly Cheatle, the Director of the Secret Service, tendered her resignation. The move came after a House committee questioned her about the security arrangements at an event in Butler, Penn., where former President Donald Trump was targeted in an assassination attempt.
Senator Grassley expressed his concern over the Secret Service’s failure to protect President Trump, stating that it was an epic failure on their part. He emphasized that this failure must not happen again in the future. With the resignation of former Director Cheatle, Grassley urged Congress to act swiftly and pass their legislation to appoint a capable leader for the agency.
According to Cortez Masto, the PROTECT Act would subject the Secret Service director to the same level of scrutiny as other federal law enforcement officers. The bill, which stands for “Providing Real Oversight and Transparency to Effectively Counter Threats,” aims to ensure accountability and transparency within the agency.
Cortez Masto emphasized the significance of the Secret Service as a law enforcement agency and highlighted the need to acknowledge its crucial role.
According to the senators, the Senate has already confirmed the top officials of various key agencies, including the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Marshals Service, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms, U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement, and Customs & Border Protection. The bill indicates that the Secret Service has a larger workforce than the U.S. Marshals and ATF. The agency’s primary objective is to safeguard individuals and conduct criminal investigations.
According to Grassley and Cortez Masto, the USSS has a workforce of over 3,802 special agents, 1,574 Uniformed Division officers, and more than 2,680 technical professional and administrative support personnel to achieve their two primary objectives. However, reports from the public for over a decade have highlighted staffing shortages within the USSS that could potentially impact the agency’s protective mission.
During the questioning by U.S. House Oversight Committee members on Monday, Cheatle provided brief responses with minimal elaboration. The representatives inquired about the shooter’s means of accessing the unoccupied roof and why Trump was permitted on stage despite the authorities’ classification of the shooter as “suspicious.”
The shooting incident resulted in the death of one person, while Donald Trump and two others sustained injuries.
