Next Secret Service director would require congressional approval under new House bill
FIRST ON FOX: A group of House lawmakers want the next chief of the U.S. Secret Service to go through a rigorous confirmation process in the Senate before being allowed to lead the critical security agency.
Currently, the Secret Service director is appointed by the president without consent of the legislative branch, unlike Cabinet officials and judges, which require Senate confirmation.
But elected officials have been clamoring for more accountability and stricter transparency guardrails for the agency after the attempted assassination of former President Trump last month.
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Lawmakers and other investigators have been demanding to know how a 20-year-old gunman armed with an AR-15-style rifle was able to open fire on Trump’s Butler, Pennsylvania, rally from a rooftop just outside the security perimeter, despite being spotted by both law enforcement and civilians before he fired any shots.
One rally attendee was killed in the July 13 shooting and two others were critically injured but survived. Trump himself was shot in the ear before being quickly evacuated offstage by his security detail.
The ensuing outrage forced ex-Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, appointed by President Biden in 2022, to resign. She was replaced by acting Director Ronald Rowe.
If the new bill – led by Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, and backed by five other House Republicans – is passed, then the president’s pick to lead the agency would likely have to sit through a public hearing in the Senate and pass votes in the committee of jurisdiction, followed by the whole chamber.
It would also require the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to provide candidates for president and vice president with justification for any security decisions within 14 days of them being made, according to the bill text first obtained by Fox News Digital.
"In today's highly divisive political climate, the DHS Secretary owes all presidential candidates fair, apolitical, timely, and transparent consideration of USSS protection," Pfluger told Fox News Digital. "Our country was millimeters away from a presidential assassination. We must provide adequate security for all presidential candidates – no matter their party affiliation."
He added that making Secret Service director a Senate-confirmed position would ensure appointees are "capable and apolitical."
Reports indicated that Trump was denied requests for added Secret Service security on multiple occasions prior to the July 13 rally. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is running as a third-party candidate, was denied Secret Service protection before President Biden ordered the decision reversed days after the rally shooting.
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Fox News Digital reached out to the office of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to ask if he would support a confirmation process for the Secret Service director.
Current co-signers of the bill include Reps. Anthony D’Esposito, R-N.Y.; Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla.; Cory Mills, R-Fla.; Michael Guest, R-Miss.; and Brett Guthrie, R-Ky.
A similar bill was introduced along bipartisan lines in the Senate last month by Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., and Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa. In addition to Senate confirmation, that bill would also impose a 10-year term limit on the director role.