It takes a special kind of obtuse government employee thinking to wait until after you’ve been publicly pilloried by politicians from both parties before announcing your resignation. That, however, is exactly what Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle has done. Yesterday, she delivered of the most disastrous performances before a congressional committee in the history of government oversight.

After yesterday’s fireworks and a very public flogging, both Republican House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer and ranking Democrat Jamie Raskin jointly called for Cheatle’s resignation. Today, after sustaining epic levels of public humiliation, she finally relented.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas issued this statement . . .

“I am grateful to Kimberly Cheatle for her leadership as the Director of the United States Secret Service and for her lifelong devotion to our country.

“Director Cheatle has dedicated her career to public service. She has served in the Secret Service for more than 29 years, rising through the ranks because of her talent, hard work, selfless dedication to mission, and integrity. Daily, she risked her life to protect others, serving on the frontlines and securing events for every president since President Clinton. She supervised protection for Vice President Cheney, led the Secret Service’s training center, supervised the protection of Vice President Biden, oversaw the agency’s entire protective mission during the administration of President Trump, and more.

“Reflecting her devotion to country above all else, Director Cheatle returned from retirement to lead the agency and its noble mission that she loves and to which she has devoted her career. Over the past two years, she has led the Secret Service with skill, honor, integrity, and tireless dedication. She is deeply respected by the men and women of the agency and by her fellow leaders in the Department of Homeland Security. I am proud to have worked with Director Cheatle and we are all grateful for her service.

“The men and women of the United States Secret Service risk their lives every day to protect others. They make the Secret Service the finest protective agency in the world.”

And someone purporting to be President Biden released this . . .;

Jill and I are grateful to Director Kim Cheatle for her decades of public service. She has selflessly dedicated and risked her life to protect our nation throughout her career in the United States Secret Service. We especially thank her for answering the call to lead the Secret Service during our Administration and we are grateful for her service to our family.

As a leader, it takes honor, courage, and incredible integrity to take full responsibility for an organization tasked with one of the most challenging jobs in public service. 

The independent review to get to the bottom of what happened on July 13 continues, and I look forward to assessing its conclusions. We all know what happened that day can never happen again. As we move forward, I wish Kim all the best, and I will plan to appoint a new Director soon.

Note that neither one could muster the political courage to fire her, as would have been the right and proper response given the monumental failures of the Secret Service under her leadership. Neither politician was even able to manage even an honest word about the disaster that happened under her management, one that resulted in the death of one man, two others seriously injured, and a former president narrowly escaping assassination.

And so it goes.