The American Congress has announced that it will promptly demand briefings and initiate investigations into the assassination attempt that left former U.S. President Donald Trump injured at a rally on Saturday, July 13, in Pennsylvania.
“Congress will conduct a full investigation of yesterday’s tragedy to identify any security lapses and provide the American people with the information they need and deserve,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson on the “TODAY” show on Sunday.
“In the meantime, we must lower the rhetoric and temperature in this country.”
Johnson mentioned that he has “received briefings from law enforcement” and posed “pointed questions” to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Saturday night.
Top Democratic leaders in Congress also condemned the shooting.
“I am horrified by what happened at the Trump rally in Pennsylvania and relieved that former President Trump is safe. Political violence has no place in our country,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., in a statement.
House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., requested that Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle testify at a July 22 hearing.
House Homeland Security Committee Chair Mark Green, R-Tenn., also demanded answers from Mayorkas in a letter on Sunday.
According to a Homeland Security Committee GOP spokesperson, Green held a call with Secret Service Director Cheatle on Sunday afternoon and stated that the panel’s majority planned to hold a member briefing on Monday.
In a separate letter to Cheatle, Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., demanded answers regarding the security lapse at the Trump rally, including whether the Trump campaign requested additional protection and if those resources were denied.
Gallego, a military veteran, wrote that the shooting “raises grave concerns about the security measures or lack thereof taken to protect a former President of the United States and a major presidential candidate.”
“I call on all those responsible for planning, approving, and executing this failed security plan to be held accountable and to testify before Congress immediately,” Gallego wrote in the letter, obtained first by NBC News.
In response to the shooting, Reps. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., and Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., announced plans to propose legislation that would provide President Joe Biden, former President Donald Trump, and presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. with enhanced Secret Service protection.
In a notice sent by the Senate Notification Center late Saturday following the assassination attempt, Senate offices were informed that Capitol Police are “not tracking any additional threats to Members.”
“Capitol Police are coordinating to provide additional support at events related to both the Republican and Democratic National Conventions,” the notice added.
