Chuck Grassley not asking Secret Service chief to resign after Trump assassination attempt

GREENFIELD — U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley is not calling for the head of the Secret Service to resign in the wake of an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, but he said he does support requiring the agency's director to be confirmed by the Senate.

One person was killed in the assassination attempt last weekend at Trump's rally in Pennsylvania, two others were critically injured and Trump sustained an injury to his ear.

Several prominent Republicans, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Mike Johnson, have called on Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to resign in the wake of the attack.

Two of Grassley's Senate colleagues, U.S. Sen. John Barasso of Wyoming and U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, have also called for Cheatle to step down. The two were among a group of senators who chased Cheatle through the Republican National Convention Wednesday, shouting questions at her about the assassination attempt.

"I’m not going to call for resignation at this point," Grassley told reporters Friday after a town hall event in Greenfield.

Grassley, a Republican, is conducting an investigation into the Secret Service's policies and procedures in the wake of the assassination attempt. He has requested records from the Secret Service, FBI, Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice regarding what he called a "monumental security failure."

On Tuesday, Grassley wrote to the Department of Homeland Security's inspector general to call for an investigation into the assassination attempt. The office later opened an inquiry.

More: 'Monumental security failure': Grassley calls for investigation of assassination attempt

"The reason that I’m so aggressive in pursuing investigations through my investigative staff is the fact that too often (when) we see things that are being investigated, it looks like they’re trying to cover up things rather than get all the facts out," Grassley said Friday.

Grassley said the public deserves answers about how the assassination attempt was able to occur.

"I think that when the life of a president or a presidential candidate is being threatened and actions are taken and there’s some shortcoming of the protection that they ought to have, that there should be no cover-up," he said.

Cheatle is set to testify Monday to the House Oversight Committee in the Republican-led House.

In an interview with ABC News on July 15, Cheatle called the assassination attempt "unacceptable" but said "I do plan to stay on" as Secret Service director.

"The buck stops with me," Cheatle said in the interview. "I am the director of the Secret Service. It was unacceptable, and it's something that shouldn't happen again."

Biden and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said an "independent review" will be launched into the Secret Service's operational conduct.

Grassley said he believes the director of the Secret Service should be confirmed by the Senate and appointed to a 10-year term, like the director of the FBI. His staff said he will soon introduce a bill including both those elements.

"I think we need to have Senate confirmation for the head of the Secret Service," Grassley said. "That isn’t required today, and I think it ought to be required."

Grassley said he generally has confidence in the Secret Service to keep Trump, President Joe Biden and other officials safe. He pointed to Trump's praise of the agency during his speech accepting the Republican presidential nomination in Milwaukee Thursday night.

"I think we’ve heard what President Trump said last night about complimenting the Secret Service and having great confidence in them," Grassley said. "I don’t think I can say anything stronger than that because I’ve never had a bullet go by my ear, and he would feel that more than anybody else."

In his speech, Trump called the Secret Service agents at his event "very brave" and said "they rushed to the stage" to protect him.

"These are great people at great risk, I will tell you, and pounced on top of me so that I would be protected," Trump said.

'It doesn't matter' who's on the Democratic ticket, Grassley says

As an increasing number of prominent Democrats have called for Biden to withdraw from the presidential race after a disastrous debate performance last month, Grassley said the election will be decided on issues, not who's on the ticket.

"It doesn’t matter who is the head of the ticket, (Vice President) Kamala Harris or somebody else," Grassley said. "The issues are what’s going to make a difference, whether it’s Biden or anybody else. The border and the cost of living and all that stuff is on everybody’s mind. And that’s what’s on my mind."

Biden, 81, has faced concerns about whether he's up to serving another term in office, which would end when he is 86.

Grassley, 90, said he hasn't had personal contact with Biden so it wouldn't be fair for him to say whether Biden is up to the job.

"I know a lot of people that I have confidence in that think he’s not up to the job," Grassley said. "But I haven’t had personal contact with him … and I don’t think it would be fair for me to make that judgment."

USA Today contributed to this report.

Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at sgrubermil@registermedia.com or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on Twitter at @sgrubermiller.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Grassley: Head of Secret Service should require Senate confirmation