(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) The Secret Service nearly renewed the security clearance of disgraced former Director Kimberly Cheatle, who resigned after would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks nearly killed President Donald Trump on her watch, according to RealClearPolitics.
The agency halted the renewal after the news site on Friday began reporting on Republican opposition to the move. It’s unclear why Cheatle would need a security clearance since she left the Secret Service in July 2024.
“Following the security debacle in Butler, the former director of USSS made the right decision to resign,” said Sen. Ron Johnson, R–Wis. “I see no reason for her security clearance to be reinstated.”
Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R–Tenn., echoed Johnson’s remarks, saying: “Not only did she oversee one of the greatest security failures in our nation’s history, but she also stonewalled congressional oversight and ran away from my colleagues and me when we confronted her.”
Blackburn added that under “no circumstances should she be allowed to regain her security clearance, and it is shameful she would even try.”
Asked for comment, a USSS spokesperson confirmed that Director Sean M. Curran saw no public benefit in extending security clearances to former directors.
“Since appointed, Director Curran has been building a dynamic team of knowledgeable advisors that will help implement his vision for the agency,” the spokesman told RealClearPolitics.
“Additionally, Director Curran has been modernizing the intelligence apparatus within the agency. During that process, he has determined that not all former directors need to have their clearances renewed,” the spokesperson added.
Cheatle resigned after Trump survived two assassination attempts during his 2024 campaign to return to the White House.
She was replaced by Ronald L. Rowe Jr., who retired just days after Trump took office in January 2025.
Curran, who was present during the Butler assassination attempt, was later appointed by Trump to lead the Secret Service.
