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Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) moved on Monday night to force a vote on impeaching Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle – teeing up a high-profile referendum on the House floor for this week.
Mace is able to take the step without buy-in from leadership. Instead, they will have two days to hold a vote on the House floor on her impeachment resolution, which accuses Cheatle of dereliction of duty.
It would need a simple majority to clear the House. Speaker Mike Johnson’s office didn’t immediately respond to questions about how they would handle the resolution – but lawmakers could also try to pigeonhole it for now by sending it to committee or setting it aside.
“Just filed a privileged motion to impeach Kim Cheatle, Director of the Secret Service. This will force a vote within the next 48 hours,” Mace wrote on X, shortly after she filed her resolution on the House floor.
The rush to impeach Cheatle comes as she’s facing growing bipartisan criticism, including new calls Monday from several House Democrats for her to resign in the wake of the July 13 assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump.
Cheatle appeared for hours before the House Oversight Committee, where she sparked frustration from members in both parties who felt like she wasn’t answering questions. Several members of the panel told her during the hearing that they believe she should resign or be fired, while Mace told her that she was “full of shit.”
Even as Democrats are joining Republicans in pushing for Cheatle to step down, it wasn’t immediately clear how many — if any —would support voting to impeach her. Republicans would need near unity within their own ranks if they don’t get any help from Democrats.
Several congressional committees are currently investigating the shooting at Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania. FBI Director Christopher Wray will appear before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.
In addition to Mace’s resolution, Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.) said earlier on Monday that he intended to file articles of impeachment.
