The director of the Secret Service, Kimberly A. Cheatle, will appear before lawmakers for the first time on Monday as scrutiny intensifies over the security failures at the Pennsylvania rally where a gunman tried to kill former President Donald J. Trump, the agency announced on Friday.
“The Secret Service is fully accountable for the safety of its protectees. We are committed to better understanding what happened before, during, and after the assassination attempt of former President Trump to ensure it never happens again,” Anthony Guglielmi, spokesman for the agency, wrote on social media on Friday.
As of Thursday, it was unclear whether Ms. Cheatle would appear before the committee. A letter sent by the Department of Homeland Security to lawmakers on Wednesday had urged the committee to allow for a later hearing date to give her more time to prepare.
Regardless, lawmakers on Friday said the hearing would take place Monday as scheduled.
“Americans have many serious questions about the historic security failures that occurred at the campaign rally in Butler, Pa.,” wrote Representatives James R. Comer, Republican of Kentucky, and Jamie Raskin, Democrat of Maryland, in a statement on Friday. “Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle must appear before the House Oversight Committee without delay on Monday, July 22, to answer our many questions and provide the transparency and accountability that Americans deserve and that are at the foundation of our government.”
Mr. Trump was injured when Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pa., shot at him from a nearby warehouse roof during the campaign rally on Saturday. One attendee was killed and two more were injured. A Secret Service counter-sniper shot and killed Mr. Crooks at the scene.
Ms. Cheatle has been sharply criticized by top Republican lawmakers who have said she needed to be removed from the post immediately. Biden administration officials have publicly backed Ms. Cheatle.
“I will tell you that my confidence in Kim is 100 percent,” Alejandro N. Mayorkas, the secretary of homeland security, said in an interview earlier this week.
Ms. Cheatle is a longtime Secret Service official who has served in various roles at the agency. President Biden, in appointing Ms. Cheatle, said that she had his “complete trust.”
