WASHINGTON — Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, got into a heated exchange with the acting director of the U.S. Secret Service during a committee hearing about the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump. 

What You Need To Know

  • Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe–who took over the position after former Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned a week after the assassination attempt–was questioned by Cruz and other senators on Tuesday at a joint committee hearing about the agency’s failures at Trump’s Butler, Pennsylvania, rally earlier this month

  • Cruz specifically asked Rowe if Trump gets the same amount of security as President Joe Biden, which prompted a contentious back-and-forth between the two

  • Cruz also claimed that the Secret Service made a “political decision” with how much security Trump received, which prompted pushback from Rowe—who said his agents aren’t political

  • After the hearing, Cruz posted on X, formerly Twitter, somewhat praising Rowe for being "more forthcoming" than his predecessor Cheatle, whom he called "incompetent"

Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe–who took over the position after former Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned a week after the assassination attempt–was questioned by Cruz and other senators on Tuesday at a joint committee hearing about the agency’s failures at Trump’s Butler, Pennsylvania, rally earlier this month. 

Cruz specifically asked Rowe if Trump gets the same amount of security as President Joe Biden. 

Rowe started to respond, but Cruz cut him off, asking again if Biden and Trump get the same amount of Secret Service detail on any day. Rowe said he was “trying to answer” the question. 

Cruz said he wasn’t answering the question and asked again if it was the same number of agents for both Biden and Trump.

“Senator, there is a difference between the sitting president,” Rowe answered.

Cruz then cut him off again, saying, “Then what’s the difference?”

“The difference–national command authority to launch a nuclear strike, sir,” Rowe said as Cruz continued to talk over him. “There are other assets that travel with the president that the former president will not get. But the number of Secret Service agents protecting him…”

Cruz then cut in, saying, “Stop interrupting me. You are refusing to answer clear and direct questions. I am asking the relative difference in the number of agents between those assigned to Donald Trump and those assigned to Joe Biden. I’m not asking why you assign more to Joe Biden. I’m asking is the difference, is it 2x, is it 3x, is it 5x, is it 10x?”

Rowe responded, saying he would provide the number to Cruz so he could “see it with [his] own eyes.”

Cruz also claimed that the Secret Service made a “political decision” with how much security Trump received, which prompted pushback from Rowe—who said his agents aren’t political. 

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, also got into it with Rowe when he questioned why more individuals involved in the rally security have not been fired. 

While Rowe defended some of the agency’s policies and security procedures, he also said that the attempted assassination of Trump was a “failure on multiple levels.”

After the hearing, Cruz posted on X, formerly Twitter, somewhat praising Rowe for being "more forthcoming" than his predecessor Cheatle, whom he called "incompetent." But Cruz said he still had many unanswered questions and would not rest until he got answers.