The final Congressional hearing on the assassination attempts on President-elect Donald Trump devolved into a screaming match regarding this year’s 9/11 remembrance ceremony. Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas, accused acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe of putting the lives of President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and Trump at risk by attending the memorial ceremony as an agency representative rather than being on duty.
“Do not invoke 9/11 for political purposes!” Rowe erupted.
“I’m not. I’m invoking -” Fallon replied.
“You are, sir. You are way out of line!” Rowe said.
Heated exchange between @RepPatFallon and U.S. Secret Service Acting Director Rowe.
— CSPAN (@cspan) December 5, 2024
Rowe: "Do not invoke 9/11 for political purposes!"
Fallon: "I'm not. I'm invoking -"
Rowe: "You are, sir. You are way out of line!" pic.twitter.com/LR28SDci5I
The men continued even as the chairman of the taskforce tried to maintain order.
“You know why you were there, because you wanted to be visible because you’re auditioning for this job that you’re not going to get,” Fallon shouted.
“I was there to pay respect to a fallen member of this agency,” Rowe yelled back.
Download the SAN app today to stay up-to-date with Unbiased. Straight Facts™.
Point phone camera here
During the hearing, Rowe presented Congress with multiple changes he’s making to the agency in order to improve protection.
The changes include the creation of a leadership development program. Rowe said they need to identify agents who will make good leaders before they get promoted to GS-15, which is the highest level a federal employee can reach before moving to an executive position.
“We need to hit people and identify leaders earlier on, besides just saying, ‘Well, they’ve been here for 18 years, let’s make them a GS-15’,” Rowe said.
Rowe will also increase training hours for agents so that it’s “routine and expected.” He says this will be a culture change for agents.
“Somehow, along the way, we became disproportionately operational in comparison to time allocated for training,” Rowe explained.
Rowe is also moving the office of investigations into the office of field operations, which he said will increase the role of field offices for planning.
Rowe said improvements are already underway thanks to the $231 million in supplemental funding Congress gave the agency in September. He said the extra money was crucial.
“The Secret Service historically has had to manage its operations by doing more with less. It is not consistent with achieving a no fail mission,” Rowe said.
Trump will have the authority to appoint a new Secret Service director when he takes office in January. Rowe has been serving in an acting capacity since the resignation of Kimberly Cheatle in July.
