Members of Congress pressed for answers from the Secret Service on Monday about how a gunman got within 500 feet of former President Donald J. Trump before opening fire at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, quickly ramping up a series of investigations into the matter.
At least three congressional committees said they had begun preliminary inquiries, and some lawmakers called for an independent commission to oversee them. High-level talks were underway about what path the investigations should take. And the House Oversight Committee announced that the first hearing would occur next Monday, when Kimberly Cheatle, the director of the Secret Service, is scheduled to testify.
“The American people deserve to know the truth,” Speaker Mike Johnson wrote on social media shortly after the assassination attempt on Saturday evening. In addition to Ms. Cheatle, he said lawmakers would ask “appropriate officials” from the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the Secret Service, and the F.B.I. to appear at a hearing “ASAP.”
The Secret Service was scheduled to brief members of Congress on Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the plans. Lawmakers are already criticizing the agency for allowing the attempt on the former president’s life.
“The United States Secret Service has a no-fail mission, yet it failed on Saturday when a madman attempted to assassinate President Trump, killed an innocent victim and harmed others,” Representative James R. Comer, Republican of Kentucky and the chairman of the Oversight panel, said in a statement. “We are grateful to the brave Secret Service agents who acted quickly to protect President Trump after shots were fired and the American patriots who sought to help victims, but questions remain about how a rooftop within proximity to President Trump was left unsecure.”
The House Homeland Security Committee was also investigating. Representative Mark E. Green of Tennessee, its chairman, demanded that the Secret Service turn over documents to his committee by Friday.
In a letter to Alejandro N. Mayorkas, the homeland security secretary, Mr. Green asked a series of questions about the shooting and the agency’s preparedness. Mr. Green requested the agency’s security plan for the event and all documents and communications — including text messages and emails — among federal law enforcement regarding Mr. Trump’s security.
“The seriousness of this security failure and chilling moment in our nation’s history cannot be understated,” Mr. Green wrote. “No assassination attempt has come so close to taking the life of a president or presidential candidate since President Reagan was shot in 1981. Had the bullet’s trajectory been slightly different, the assassination attempt on President Trump might have succeeded.”
Mr. Green spoke with Ms. Cheatle on Sunday and with a top official from the F.B.I. Monday.
On Monday, the leaders of the Senate Homeland Security Committee said it would also investigate. Senators Gary Peters, Democrat of Michigan, and Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, said their panel would carry out a bipartisan inquiry.
“There is no place for political violence in our nation, and Saturday’s shocking attack should never have been allowed to happen,” Mr. Peters said in a statement.
Mr. Trump was injured on Saturday at a rally in Butler, Pa., after a gunman opened fire while perched on a nearby rooftop. One rally attendee was killed and two others were hospitalized.
The gunman was also killed by federal law enforcement officers.
While many have thanked the Secret Service for its swift response, serious questions remain about how the gunman got so close to Mr. Trump.
“A direct line of sight like that to the former president should not occur,” Mr. Mayorkas, the homeland security secretary, said on Monday on ABC News. “That is precisely why President Biden directed that an independent review of the incident occur.”
Representative Jeff Duncan, Republican of South Carolina, said he had spoken with Mr. Johnson about forming an independent commission to examine the shooting and security breakdowns.
“We cannot rely just on Congressional Oversight hearings or even Agency Inspector Generals to get the answers that Congress and the American people deserve about the failures to protect President #Trump adequately,” Mr. Duncan wrote on social media, adding: “An American died, and others were injured yesterday because you allowed a shooter to access an unsecured rooftop perch a mere 140+/- yards from the stage. The bottom line is that the security perimeter was inadequate, as security coverage should be beyond 500 yards or more.”
Mr. Duncan said an independent commission could be formed in the model of the Warren Commission, which was appointed after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy to investigate law enforcement failures.
“The American people deserve answers from an Independent Commission,” he wrote.
The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that it would respond to congressional inquiries “directly via official channels, and the department will continue to respond appropriately to congressional oversight.”
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