U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle is stepping down after taking responsibility for security failures at a campaign rally where former President Donald Trump was shot.
A political firestorm engulfed the agency after the July 13 shooting, with Republican and Democratic lawmakers calling for Cheatle to resign. The attack, which left Trump wounded and one person dead, marked the closest anyone had come to assassinating a president or presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981.
"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,” President Joe Biden said in a statement. "The independent review to get to the bottom of what happened on July 13 continues, and I look forward to assessing its conclusions.”