Steve Scalise U.S. House of Representatives from Louisiana's 1st district | Official U.S. House Headshot
Steve Scalise U.S. House of Representatives from Louisiana's 1st district | Official U.S. House Headshot
JEFFERSON, La.—House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) appeared on Fox News' The Ingraham Angle alongside Former Congressman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) to address what he described as significant failures within the Secret Service under the Biden-Harris administration. Scalise criticized the agency for oversights that led to an assassination attempt on former President Trump and called for increased transparency and accountability.
Scalise underscored the importance of holding those responsible accountable, stating, "Laura, very, very alarming and almost deadly, it was deadly for Corey [Comperatore]. It should not have happened. And this is why we're doing our own independent investigation because, you know, you go back to the day of the shooting, for about a week we were lied to, the whole country was by the Secret Service saying no, President Trump's team was not denied additional protection. Turns out yes, in fact, they were denied and they later admitted to that lie."
He further emphasized his dissatisfaction with technological shortcomings within the agency: "These technology breakdowns are inexcusable. This is 2024; this isn't 2055. There’s no excuse for those kinds of breakdowns."
Addressing concerns about the Secret Service's focus on its core mission of protecting U.S. presidents and vice presidents, Scalise stated: "Well, they’re not focused on their core mission... They started getting into all these other things – quotas, diversity – get back to the core mission. Clean up the culture."
Regarding Acting USSS Director Ronald Rowe allegedly directing cuts to President Trump’s Counter Surveillance Division in Butler, PA., Scalise remarked: “It's a serious charge... there's deeper questions that still – I don't know if anybody over there is going to be able to clean it up at the top.”
Scalise concluded by calling for swift action: "We're going to get the report before the end of this year. This will not be something that drags out because we need answers quickly. We need to change the culture quickly.”
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