A bipartisan House task force investigating the Trump assassination attempts highlighted failures in planning and communications by the Secret Service during the first hearing on Thursday. Lawmakers questioned why the agency did not communicate better with local authorities during the July 13 rally in Pennsylvania, where a gunman was able to open fire on former President Donald Trump. The committee, comprised of both Republicans and Democrats, has been analyzing security failures at the rally and received over 2,800 pages of documents from the Secret Service. They are also looking into a second assassination attempt on Trump that occurred earlier this month in southern Florida.
During the hearing, testimony from Pennsylvania and Butler County police officials revealed that the Secret Service did not clearly communicate with local authorities about securing the building that posed a security threat. The lack of law enforcement personnel on the roof of the building where the gunman took his shots raised questions about the Secret Service’s coordination with local agencies. Witnesses testified that there were discussions about using opaque screens or large farm equipment to block the line of sight to the stage, but it is unclear if these suggestions were implemented. Issues with communication between different agencies and the presence of two separate command posts instead of a unified one were also raised by lawmakers.
The retired Secret Service agent attending the hearing as an expert on agency practices highlighted the need for a single overall command post to ensure better communication among state and local authorities. Lawmakers struggled to pinpoint a single individual or moment that led to the assassination attempt, as multiple mistakes and incidents allowed the gunman to remain undeterred for an extended period. The lack of effective communication and unclear chain of command were major concerns expressed by legislators during the hearing. The interim report from the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee also criticized the Secret Service for failing to give clear instructions to state and local officials and for not ensuring real-time information sharing.
Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned following intense criticism from both Democrats and Republicans for the agency’s security failures during the hearing. Cheatle called the attempt on Trump’s life in Pennsylvania the agency’s most significant operation failure in decades but faced backlash for not providing specific answers about the investigation. The agency has released a five-page document summarizing key conclusions from an ongoing report on the Butler incident, with the acting director admitting to staff complacency and the need for improved communication with local and state officials. The House panel is expected to propose legislative reforms and issue a final report before December 13, with some disagreement between Democrats and Republicans on whether to allocate more funds to the Secret Service or focus on internal restructuring.
