WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives voted Wednesday to create a task force to investigate security breaches surrounding the June 13 assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.
The vote underscores the bipartisan outrage over the to shoot at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Trump came close to death. One rally attendee was killed and two others were seriously injured. Lawmakers responded quickly with hearings and widespread calls for accountability.
The legislation passed by a vote of 416-0.
The 13-member task force is expected to include seven Republicans and six Democrats. It will be tasked with determining what went wrong on the day of the assassination attempt and will make recommendations to prevent future security lapses. The task force will issue a final report by Dec. 13 and will have the power to issue subpoenas.
The bill is sponsored by Republican Rep. Mike Kelly, whose hometown of Butler was the scene of the shooting. Kelly was at the rally with his wife and other family members.
“I can tell you my community is grieving,” Kelly said. “They are shocked by what happened in our backyard. The people of Butler and the people of the United States deserve answers.”
He said he was concerned when the meeting location was chosen because he thought it would be “a difficult place to have a meeting of that size.” He called the task force an opportunity to build confidence among Americans that lawmakers can work together to address a crisis.
House committees have already held three hearings focused on the shooting. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned Tuesday, the day after she popped up before a congressional committee and was criticized for hours by both Democrats and Republicans for the security failures. She called the attempt on Trump’s life the “most significant operational failure” by the Secret Service in decades, but she angered lawmakers by not answering specific questions about the investigation.
Democrats also voiced support for the task force, calling the Butler incident a despicable attack that should never have happened.
“We need to know what happened. We need to know the truth. We need to prevent this from ever happening again,” said Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass.