WASHINGTON -- The acting director of the Secret Service said Thursday that the agency is "reorganizing and reimagining" its culture and how it operates following an assassination attempt against Donald Trump on the campaign trail.
Members of a bipartisan House task force investigating the attempt on Trump's life pushed Ronald Rowe on how the agency's staffers could have missed such blatant security vulnerabilities leading up to the July 13 shooting at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. At one point, the hearing devolved into a shouting match between Rowe and a congressman.
Rowe promised accountability for what he called the agency's "abject failure" to secure the rally in Butler, where a gunman opened fire from a nearby building. Trump was wounded in the ear, one rallygoer was killed and two others were wounded.
Another assassination attempt two months later contributed to the agency's troubles. That gunman waited for hours for Trump to appear at his golf course in Florida, but a Secret Service agent thwarted the attack by spotting the firearm poking through bushes.
"We are reorganizing and reimaging this organization," Rowe told lawmakers. He said the agency needs to identify possible leaders much earlier in their careers instead of just promoting people to command positions because they have been around a long time.
The task force has been investigating both attempts, but it was the July shooting that dominated Thursday's hearing. Its inquiry is one of a series of investigations and reports that have faulted the agency for planning and communications failures. The agency's previous director resigned, and the Secret Service increased protections for Trump before he won November election.
"I don't know where we lost that," he said. "We have to get back to that."
Rowe said Thursday that applications are actually up this year -- with about 200 agents gained during past fiscal year due both new hires veteran retention.