South Carolina Republican Rep. Nancy Mace’s threat to force an impeachment vote against Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle became irrelevant when the director announced less than 24 hours later that she was stepping down.
Following Cheatle’s testimony before the House Oversight Committee last Monday, Mace filed an impeachment resolution on the House floor, saying the Secret Service director had been “derelict in her duty.”
However, in an email to Secret Service staff the following day, Cheatle took “full responsibility” for the security lapses that occurred at the July 13 Trump rally and said that she was stepping down.
Cheatle’s resignation will not stop the investigations into the Secret Service over the attempted assassination of Donald Trump.
In a 416-0 vote on July 24, the House approved a measure to form a congressional task force with subpoena power to look into the security failings at the Trump rally.
The panel, which will be made up of 13 House members – seven Republicans and six Democrats – is charged with determining what went wrong before, during, and after the assassination attempt to come up with recommendations to avoid such lapses in the future. The task force would then be required to submit a final report before December 13.
The independent review of the July 13 assassination attempt ordered by President Biden will be conducted by a panel of law enforcement and security experts selected by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
DHS announced on July 21 that the secretary had chosen for the panel former Clinton Attorney General Janet Reno, former Bush administration officials Frances Townsend and Mark Filip, and former Homeland Security Secretary for Delaware David Mitchell.
According to Homeland Security, additional experts could be named to the panel “in the coming days.”
Following Director Cheatle’s resignation, Secretary Mayorkas named Secret Service Deputy Director Ronald Rowe as acting director. Rowe will serve in Cheatle’s place until President Biden appoints her successor.