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US Secret Service Acting Director Ronald Rowe speaks during a press conference in Washington, DC, on September 20, 2024.
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U.S. Secret Service Deputy Director Ronald Rowe, who formerly served as acting director of the agency, announced Tuesday he’s retiring. Rowe was named to the top position in an acting capacity after Kimberly Cheatle resigned in July, under pressure from lawmakers who called for her to step down in the wake of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.Rowe led the agency until Sean Curran was appointed director last month. “Deputy Director Ronald Rowe, a valued executive and leader of the United States Secret Service, has announced his decision to retire after 26 years of dedicated service,” U.S. Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi told CBS News in a statement. “He is currently enjoying a well-deserved break before his retirement.”As acting director, Rowe testified multiple times before lawmakers, addressing questions about the security failures that allowed the gunman in Butler, Thomas Matthew Crooks, to gain access to a rooftop so close to where President Trump was speaking. His most recent appearance before the bipartisan task force investigating the assassination attempt, last December, devolved into a shouting match when Republican Rep. Pat Fallon accused him of “playing politics” when he attended a 9/11 memorial event with the nation’s top leaders.
Rowe first joined the agency in 1999, serving in Secret Service field offices in West Palm Beach and Miami before joining the Presidential Protective Division, and later, the agency’s Congressional Affairs Program. He has also served as chief of staff and assistant director for the Office of Intergovernmental and Legislative Affairs. Last week, in a message to the workforce obtained by CBS News, Curran acknowledged Rowe’s service and expressed his gratitude for his “exceptional leadership stepping into the role of Acting Director during a pivotal time in our agency.””Mr. Rowe navigated the past six months with grace, resilience, and a profound sense of responsibility,” Curran wrote, adding, “Through every role, Mr. Rowe focused on the success of our mission and our people.”The current intergovernmental and legislative affairs assistant director, Darryl Volpicelli, has been assigned to be acting deputy director in the interim, according to the message to the workforce.
Richard Giuditta, Jr., a political appointee and former partner at a New York based boutique law practice, will serve as a senior adviser for the agency. Giuditta is the first “Schedule C” political appointee to serve as senior adviser to the Secret Service. During Mr. Trump’s last administration, former USSS assistant director Tony Ornato, was the first Secret Service agent to join White House staff as a temporary political appointee, deputy chief of staff. “Throughout his career, Giuditta, Jr. has provided strategic counsel to organizations across various sectors, including government entities, Fortune 500 companies, and nonprofits,” Curran wrote in his email. Curran also revealed that the agency will onboard a senior official from the Intelligence Community to help shape the agency’s protective mission with “both technical and covert expertise to strengthen our strategic intelligence posture,” though that intelligence official has not yet been named.
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Nicole Sganga
Nicole Sganga is a CBS News reporter covering homeland security and justice.
