WASHINGTON — Top leaders in Congress quickly unified to rebuke a failed assassination attempt on Donald Trump at a Saturday rally, demanding briefings and planning investigations into the incident that left the former president injured.
“Congress will do a full investigation of the tragedy yesterday to determine where there were lapses in security and anything else that the American people need to know and deserve to know,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said Sunday on the “TODAY” show. “But in the meantime, we’ve got to turn the rhetoric down. We’ve got to turn the temperature down in this country.”
Johnson said he has “gotten briefings from law enforcement” and asked “pointed questions” of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Saturday night.
Top Democrats on Capitol Hill also condemned the shooting.
“I am horrified by what happened at the Trump rally in Pennsylvania and relieved that former President Trump is safe. Political violence has no place in our country,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a statement. His office said after the incident he had been briefed on the latest developments.
House Oversight Chair James Comer, R-Ky., asked Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to testify at a July 22 hearing. House Homeland Security Chair Mark Green, R-Tenn., also demanded answers from Mayorkas in a Sunday letter.
In a separate letter to Cheatle, Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., demanded answers on the security lapse at the Trump rally, including whether the Trump campaign requested additional protection and whether those resources were denied.
Gallego, a military veteran, wrote that the shooting “raises grave concerns regarding the security measures — or lack thereof — that were taken to protect a former President of the United States and a Major Presidential Candidate.”
“I call on all those responsible for the planning, approving, and executing of this failed security plan to be held accountable and to testify before Congress immediately,” Gallego wrote in the letter obtained first by NBC News.
As of late Sunday morning, the “Gang of Eight” — the top four leaders and top four intelligence committee figures — had not received a briefing on the shooting, although individual members are in touch with the FBI, Secret Service, administration officials and law enforcement, one source with direct knowledge tells NBC News.
One reason for the lack of a speedy briefing is because lawmakers are spread out throughout the country given the congressional recess and upcoming Republican convention. It is difficult to coordinate the entire group on a secure line at the same time, the source said.
Another reason is it may be too early in the investigation for this kind of briefing, the source added.
Reps. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., and Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., announced in the wake of the shooting that they would propose legislation “providing President Joe Biden, former President Donald Trump, and presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. with enhanced Secret Service protection.”
In a notice sent by the Senate Notification Center late Saturday in the wake of the assassination attempt, Senate offices were told that Capitol Police is “not tracking any additional threats to Members.”
“Capitol Police are coordinating to provide additional support at events related to both the Republican and Democratic National Conventions,” the notice added.
House offices received a similar notice earlier that night, and members will receive a virtual security briefing on Monday afternoon, according to two people invited.
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., called on the Democratic-controlled Senate Homeland Security Committee to hold an investigation on the shooting before Aug. 1 “to demand answers from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the U.S. Secret Service on how this happened and what steps are being taken to investigate this assassination attempt and make sure it never happens again.”
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., two members of the committee, also called for an inquiry.
“We need more details & answers about the assassination attempt against former President Trump so there can be accountability & we can ensure this never happens again. As a member of the Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee, I’m calling for a hearing to investigate,” Rosen said on X.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., herself a past target of political violence, said in a statement: “As one whose family has been the victim of political violence, I know firsthand that political violence of any kind has no place in our society. I thank God that former President Trump is safe.”
