Lawmakers in both the House and Senate are launching a sprawling multicommittee investigation into the Secret Service’s security failures that resulted in the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania over the weekend.
The Senate Homeland Security Committee announced it will launch a bipartisan investigation looking into the series of security failures that allowed a shooter to scale a building hundreds of feet away from a stage where Trump was standing, where the former president was grazed by a bullet, one person was killed, and at least two others were injured.
Chairman Gary Peters (D-MI) and ranking member Rand Paul (R-KY) wrote to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and FBI Director Christopher Wray, urging them to comply with a public hearing before the August recess. They also requested a private briefing “on the security failures that allowed this alarming incident to transpire.”
“We would like to understand the security posture at the Trump campaign rally, how the suspect was able to get this close to a Secret Service protectee and cause injury to the protectee, and what steps the Department is taking to increase its protection of presidential candidates and ensure the safety of the election,” the senators wrote in their letter.
Peters told reporters on Monday that he “spoke at length” with Mayorkas on Sunday and will receive a briefing on Monday from the FBI as well.
“We have to make sure that the Secret Service and other law enforcement have the resources necessary to protect presidents and former presidents, as well as other elected officials,” he said, according to reporting from the Hill.
The Michigan senator, who is also chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said the investigation and hearing would be similar to what the panel did in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
“We did a comprehensive assessment of security after Jan. 6. In that investigation, we had a number of recommendations, and a significant number of those recommendations have now been incorporated into the security practices here at the Capitol,” Peters added.
House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green (R-TN) and ranking member Bennie Thompson (D-MS) will have a private call with FBI Executive Assistant Director Robert R. Wells at some point Monday, according to a committee aide.
The House Oversight Committee will get a virtual briefing from the Secret Service on Tuesday, according to a source familiar. In addition to the briefing, members are expecting Director Kimberly Cheatle to appear before a hearing of the committee on July 22, according to the same source.
Additionally, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) and Republicans on his committee are sending a letter to Cheatle on Monday calling for the preservation of documents and communications regarding the Butler, Pennsylvania campaign rally.
Two aides familiar with planning procedures told the Washington Examiner on Monday that the three committees would largely stick to their areas of jurisdiction. The House Committee on Oversight and Reform has greater jurisdiction over all government agencies and departments. At present, Oversight Republicans have chosen to focus on the Secret Service.
The House Judiciary Committee will focus efforts on the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Both agencies are housed under the Justice Department. The House Homeland Security Committee will focus on the Department of Homeland Security and its agency the Secret Service. Led by Green, Homeland Republicans led the charge earlier this year as the House impeached Mayorkas on two charges for actions related to the southern border crisis. More illegal immigrants have been encountered at the nation’s border under President Joe Biden than any two-term administration.
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In a statement on Monday, Cheatle said the Secret Service would cooperate with an independent review announced by Biden, in addition to working with “the appropriate Congressional committees on any oversight action.”
“The Secret Service is working with all involved Federal, state and local agencies to understand what happened, how it happened, and how we can prevent an incident like this from ever taking place again. We understand the importance of the independent review announced by President Biden yesterday and will participate fully,” she said.
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Some Republicans suggested the security failures should go a step further. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) called on Cheatle and Mayorkas to resign.
“The head of Secret Service should resign. So should the head of DHS,” Cruz said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.