WASHINGTON - U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle is stepping down after widespread calls by lawmakers for her to resign following the attempted assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump on July 13, three sources told NBC News.
An official announcement on her resignation is expected later this morning, two law enforcement sources said to NBC News.
President Joe Biden responded to the decision in a statement saying, "As a leader, it takes honor, courage, and incredible integrity to take full responsibility for an organization tasked with one of the most challenging jobs in public service. The independent review to get to the bottom of what happened on July 13 continues, and I look forward to assessing its conclusions. We all know what happened that day can never happen again."
Biden concluded his statement assuring that he will plan to appoint a new Director soon.
On July 22, Cheatle faced questions from lawmakers from both parties who were frustrated over the Secret Service’s failure to protect Trump.
"Today, you failed to provide answers to basic questions regarding that stunning operational failure and to reassure the American people that the Secret Service has learned its lessons and begun to correct its systemic blunders and failures," Chairman James Comer R-Ky., and Ranking Member Jamie Raskin, D-Md., wrote in a joint letter to Cheatle.
The two members said that the committee and American people "demand serious institutional accountability and transparency that you are not providing," especially during a presidential election year.
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and several other top Republicans, including House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., and Senate Republican Conference Chairman John Barrasso, R-Wyo., had called on Cheatle to resign.