Rep. Nancy Mace is forcing the House to vote this week on whether to impeach Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle after she refused lawmakers’ calls for her to resign.
The South Carolina Republican introduced the resolution on the House floor Monday evening and used a procedural mechanism to invoke the resolution’s privileged status, which means the chamber must vote on it within two days.
Ms. Mace, reading the text of the impeachment resolution on the floor, said Ms. Cheatle “failed to protect Donald J. Trump and other attendees” at the former president’s July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Ms. Cheatle “has been derelict in her duty to uphold the oath as well as faithfully discharge the duties of her office,” Ms. Mace said.
While the House must vote on Ms. Cheatle’s resolution, it does not necessarily have to be a direct up or down vote. Any House member can move to table the resolution or discharge it to committee, which appears likely in this case.
Ms. Mace was among several members of the House Oversight Committee who called on Ms. Cheatle to resign as she testified before the panel on Monday. She opened up her questioning by asking Ms. Cheatle if she wanted to use her allotted five minutes of speaking time to draft her resignation, which Ms. Cheatle declined.
SEE ALSO: Democrats join GOP calls for Secret Service Director Cheatle to resign
Ms. Mace then demanded Ms. Cheatle answer a series of yes or no questions, including whether the July 13 assassination attempt was a “colossal failure” on the part of the Secret Service. Ms. Cheatle tried to equivocate before eventually relenting and providing a “yes” response.
Ms. Cheatle also answered “yes” when asked whether she had been transparent with the committee.
“We had to subpoena you. That’s not transparent,” Ms. Mace said.
Ms. Cheatle declined to answer a majority of the questions members asked during the hearing, which drew bipartisan condemnation and calls for her resignation.
But Ms. Mace took her ire a step further, saying, “You’re full of s—- today. You’re being completely dishonest.”
• Lindsey McPherson can be reached at lmcpherson@washingtontimes.com.
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