The director of the Secret Service said Tuesday she is resigning following the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump that unleashed intensifying outcry about how the agency tasked with protecting current and former presidents could fail in its core mission.

Kimberly Cheatle, who had served as Secret Service director since August 2022, had been facing growing calls to resign and several investigations into how the shooter was able to get so close to the Republican presidential nominee at an outdoor campaign rally in Pennsylvania.

Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle – who has just resigned from her position following the Trump assassination attempt – told fellow agents in an internal message obtained by Fox News that “all of you are worthy of trust and confidence.” 

“You deserve the nation’s support in carrying out our critical mission,” she said. “One of my favorite things about this workforce is that the men and women are fiercely committed to our mission.” 

“Thank you for all that you do, and will continue to do, for our great nation,” she concluded. 

Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle has resigned a little more than a week after the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump at his rally, NewsNation has confirmed.

Cheatle faced calls to step down from lawmakers in both political parties who questioned the agency’s actions in the July 13 shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania. On Monday, she testified publicly in front of the House Oversight Committee after a week of closed-door interviews.

Embattled Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle was always going to have a rough time explaining to lawmakers how her agency allowed an aspiring assassin to get such an easy shot at Donald Trump at a July 13 rally in Butler, Pa. Somehow, she did worse than expected.

Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle assured lawmakers that she takes full responsibility for the failed assassination attempt on former president Donald Trump at the first congressional hearing on the subject — but mostly refused to provide any details on what exactly went wrong, passing the buck instead to the FBI to provide specific information.

U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle admitted to Congress on Monday that she and her agency failed when a would-be assassin wounded Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, but rebuffed bipartisan calls to resign.

"We failed," Cheatle said in testimony before the House of Representatives Oversight Committee. "The assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump on July 13th is the most significant operational failure at the Secret Service in decades."

Kimberly Cheatle, director of the U.S. Secret Service, acknowledged Monday that the near-assassination of former President Donald Trump represented a fundamental failure on her agency’s part, but refused to explain exactly what went wrong.

Speaking before lawmakers on Capitol Hill, Cheatle described the July 13 shooting of Trump and attendees at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, as “the most significant operational failure” at the Secret Service in decades.

Republican members of Congress are focusing on the role of the Secret Service, as their frustration and anger grow over the agency's response to an attempt to assassinate presidential nominee Donald Trump.

A House committee hearing will on Monday grill its Director, Kimberly Cheatle -something Speaker Mike Johnson said would make for "must-see TV" for Americans concerned about security lapses at a Pennsylvania rally earlier this month.

"She's got a lot to answer for. And these concerns are bipartisan," Mr Johnson told CNN.

The arm of the Secret Service that protects presidents, vice presidents and their families is nearly 10% smaller than it was a decade ago despite warnings from Congress and a government watchdog that it needed to add agents or risk compromising its mission.

The latest congressional budget figures show that the employee head count assigned to protect the president and other senior officials and investigate threats against them dropped by roughly 350 staffers — down from 4,027 in fiscal 2014 to 3,671 in the current fiscal year.

Top officials at the U.S. Secret Service repeatedly denied requests for additional resources and personnel sought by Donald Trump’s security detail in the two years leading up to his attempted assassination at a rally in Pennsylvania last Saturday, according to four people familiar with the requests.