“I’m glad he did the right thing. Look, our reaction, the immediate reaction to his resignation, is that he was late. He did it at least a week ago,” Johnson said Tuesday.
The House speaker had just announced the end of his weekly news convention when news broke that Cheatle would resign and return to the microphone after a reporter alerted him to the update.
TRUMP SHOOTING: TIMELINE OF ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT HOW SHOOTER ESCAPED TO SAFETY
President Mike Johnson led the opposition rate to Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle after the shooting at Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania (Getty Images)
“I’m pleased to see that, I’m pleased to see that she answered the call from Republicans and Democrats. Now we want to pick up the pieces. We will have to reconstruct religion and accept it as true with “other American people in the secret services,” Johnson said.
“I hope that the acting director or whoever is appointed to update Director Cheatle will be very sober in his duty and take into account the very damaging times we live in. We will do everything we can in the House to make this true. “
Cheatle had been under bipartisan pressure to resign after a 20-year-old gunman managed to open fire on Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, from a rooftop just outside the event’s perimeter, killing one rally attendee and seriously wounding two others. .
TOP REPUBLICAN WARNS OF ‘RUDE AWAKENING’ IF ‘STONE WRECK’ CONTINUES AS SECRET SERVICES FACE HEARING
Republican candidate Donald Trump is seen with blood on his face surrounded by Secret Service agents as he is led away from a campaign event at Butler Farm Show Inc. in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024. (Rebecca Droke/AFP via Getty Images))
Trump himself shot in the upper right ear and ran off the level through Secret Service agents.
Cheatle was grilled for hours during a tense House Oversight Committee hearing Monday, after which the panel’s two most level-headed lawmakers, Chairman James Comer, R-Ky. , and ranking member Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md. , issued a rare joint call on him to resign.
Comer said in reaction to his resignation: “While Director Cheatle’s resignation is a step toward accountability, we want a thorough review of how those security breaches occurred so we can prevent them from continuing. We will continue our oversight of the secret facility. on the House task force to ensure transparency, accountability and responses to ensure this does not happen again. ”
PARENTS OF TRUMP SHOOTER THOMAS MATTHEW CROOKS, REGISTERED PROFESSIONAL COUNSELERS IN PENNSYLVANIA: FILES
United States Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle answers questions as she testifies before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee about the assassination of former President Donald Trump on a campaign trail in Pennsylvania, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, July 22, 2024. (AP Photo/ Rod Lamkey, Jr. )
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Raskin’s text read: “Chairman Comer and I have made a bipartisan call for USSS Director Cheatle to resign so that the Secret Service can temporarily ensure its data is protected. She has resigned. I would like Chairman Comer to join to me. law banning AR-15s and other assault weapons to protect all Americans – not just presidents but also schoolchildren and firefighters – from more mass shootings. ”
Johnson told reporters at his news conference that he had a frank verbal exchange with Cheatle ahead of Monday’s hearing, telling him, “It’s personal, but there has to be accountability. “
Elizabeth Elkind is a political reporter for Fox News Digital, which covers the House of Representatives. Previous virtual signatures were noted in the Daily Mail and CBS News.
Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send to elizabeth. elkind@fox. com
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