The House passed a resolution to form a bipartisan task force on Wednesday to investigate the assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump on July 13.
H.R. 1367, which was spearheaded by House Speaker Mike Johnson and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, passed the House in a unanimous vote. The task force was announced in the aftermath of U.S. Secret Service (USSS) Director Kimberly Cheatle’s evasive testimony before the House Oversight Committee on Monday, which sparked bipartisan outrage and her subsequent resignation on Tuesday. (RELATED: Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle Resigns Amid Scrutiny Of Trump Assassination Attempt)
The House voted 416-0 on the resolution.
“The security failures that allowed an assassination attempt on Donald Trump’s life are shocking,” Johnson and Jeffries said in a joint statement on Tuesday. “The task force will be empowered with subpoena authority and will move quickly to find the facts, ensure accountability, and make certain such failures never happen again.”
WASHINGTON, DC – MAY 08: Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) (R) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) stand for the national anthem at the U.S. Capitol on May 08, 2024, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
The task force will be composed of seven Republicans and six Democrats “in response to bipartisan demands for answers,” according to Johnson and Jeffries’ joint statement. (RELATED: James Comer, Jamie Raskin Call For Secret Service Director To Resign After Invasive Hearing On Trump Shooting)
The resolution was also led by Republican Rep. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania, who was in the front row of Trump’s rally in Butler County, Pennsylvania, when 20-year old Thomas Matthew Crooks shot at and wounded the former president, killing attendee Corey Comperatore and injuring James Copenhaver and David Dutch, who are both in stable condition as of Monday.
Crooks took aim at the Republican nominee from a rooftop positioned just 130 yards from the stage. The gunman was reportedly spotted by witnesses and flagged by the USSS almost an hour before Trump took the stage. (RELATED: Secret Service Tells Senators Shooter ‘Identified’ Roughly 50 Mins Before Trump Took Rally Stage, Sources Say)
‘Go Back To Guarding Doritos’: GOP Rep Goes Ballistic On Secret Service Director For ‘Shameful’ Answers pic.twitter.com/wdgXC82cbC
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) July 22, 2024
Cheatle resigned the day after her testimony on Monday, saying that she took “full responsibility for the security lapse,” according to an email obtained by The Associated Press. Johnson said Cheatle’s resignation was “overdue,” but that there still “may be others in the line of authority” who were also at fault.
“She should have done this at least a week ago,” Johnson said in a press conference on Tuesday. “Now we have to pick up the pieces. We have to rebuild the American people’s faith and trust in the Secret Service as an agency.”
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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