As members of Congress on both sides of the political spectrum grilled US Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle On Monday, there was debate over how a gunman managed to shoot former President Donald Trump in an assassination attempt. Several Republican lawmakers cited gender and the agency’s efforts on diversity, equity and inclusion as reasons for the security failure.
“Ma’am, you are a DEI horror story,” Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee told Cheatle during the hours-long hearing before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee.
Wisconsin Rep. Glenn Grothman asked the director if she “didn’t hire men because of your desire to achieve certain goals.”
And Texas Rep. Michael Cloud challenged Cheatle’s strategic plan for the Secret Service, in which she has advocated for diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility, including her support for the 30×30 initiative, which seeks to to increase the representation of female recruits to 30% by 2030.
“Does every Secret Service agent meet the same qualifications, or do you have different standards for different people?” Cloud asked.
“Yes, sir. Everyone who goes through the application process must meet the same standards to become a special agent,” Cheatle replied.
Conservative backlash against DEI is on the rise since June last yearwhen the Supreme Court decided to end affirmative action in college admissions. Several companies have been attacked because of their DEI policies, including John Deere, Tractor delivery, Goal And Bud light.
The latest DEI raid on the Secret Service and Cheatle was in plain sight on Monday, but the issue has been in the air since the July 13 assassination attempt at a Trump rally in Pennsylvania, which left several female agents protecting the former president and several conservatives questioning their fitness for office.
“There should be no women in the Secret Service. They should be the best of the best, and none of the best of the best in this job are women,” conservative political commentator Matt Walsh posted on X the morning after the assassination attempt. “If there is a woman doing this type of work, that means 100 percent that a more qualified man was passed over.”
Meghan McCain, daughter of the late senator and US presidential candidate John McCain, reposted Walsh’s statement, adding: “The idea that men and women are the same is just absurd. You have to be taller than the candidate to protect them with your body. Why are they having these small women (who apparently can’t carry a gun) guard Trump? This is embarrassing and dangerous.”
Photos from the immediate aftermath of the shooting show a female officer Protecting Trump with her body.
David Glasgow, director of the Meltzer Center for Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging at New York University Law School, said the new criticism of DEI comes as no surprise.
“It’s a pretty consistent pattern now that when something goes wrong, blame is placed on DEI,” he said. “After the Collapse of the Baltimore Bridgethere were people who blamed DEI, and the same thing happened after Boeing was concerned with aircraft safety issues.
Democrat Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts said it was “disgraceful” that Republicans were reciting “sexist platitudes” and blaming women for the security failures at Trump’s rally. She said she believed her Republican colleagues were using the shooting to “continue to attack progress toward racial justice and gender equality in America.” She also criticized Cheatle for failing to adequately respond to questions during Monday’s hearing.
“Every day, Director Cheatle, that you don’t give us answers, they get more oxygen to support their unsubstantiated claims that women and people of color are responsible for tragic events. And that is dangerous too,” Pressley said.
For her part, Cheatle said, “The incident on the 13th has nothing to do with DEI. The incident on the 13th has to do with a gap in planning or communication.”
Under Cheatle, the Secret Service has continued its commitment to the 30×30 Initiative, which aims to improve the representation and experiences of women in law enforcement. Currently, women make up just 12 percent of sworn officers and 3 percent of police leadership in the U.S., according to the organization’s website. Cheatle herself is only the second woman to lead the Secret Service.
Dozens of other police departments and law enforcement agencies have also taken up the 30×30 initiative, including in red states like Iowa, North Dakota, Arkansas, Kansas and Florida. And so far, none of those departments have backed out.
Catrina Bonus, president of Women in Federal Law Enforcement, called the attacks on DEI “disheartening.”
“The current rhetoric questioning our presence in law enforcement is not only outdated; it is rooted in ignorance,” she said in a statement. “It is a disgrace to the pioneers who faced unimaginable challenges to make this profession more inclusive and equitable — and to the next generation, to show them that law enforcement is full of open doors and opportunities, and that through hard work and determination, they can achieve anything they set their minds to.”
Maureen McGough, co-founder of the 30×30 Initiative, strongly opposed the gender critique.
“We think about the women who put their lives on the line every day to do this work in law enforcement, who are called up for service, who make incredible sacrifices. And for people who have never set foot in the arena to just accuse them because of their gender, it’s sad, you know, it’s heartbreaking,” she said.
“But it’s also an opportunity for us to redouble our efforts,” McGough added.
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Associated Press staffers Claudia Lauer in Philadelphia and Michael Kunzelman in Washington contributed to this report. ___
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