Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is facing growing calls for more transparency in the wake of two assassination attempts against former President Donald Trump.
Lawmakers from both parties have expressed frustration about the lack of information Mayorkas’s Department of Homeland Security, which houses the Secret Service, has provided about the July 13 attempt on Trump’s life in Butler, Pennsylvania. Those concerns have compounded in the week since a suspected gunman was arrested outside Trump’s Palm Beach, Florida, golf course.
Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe has briefed the press and lawmakers since the second assassination attempt in Florida on July 15, but Mayorkas’s low profile, plus his department’s perceived unwillingness to hand over certain documents, has prompted criticism on both sides of the aisle.
“Where has Mayorkas been? Mayorkas has presided over this border situation, which is so bad. I haven’t heard him say one thing since the assassination attempt on President Trump this past weekend. I haven’t heard him once,” said House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) in a Newsmax interview Friday. “And he’s the guy in charge of homeland security. He’s the secretary, and Secret Service is part of that agency. Where’s he been, for goodness sake?”
.@Jim_Jordan: “If someone new, some new voter is going to go register to vote, they should demonstrate that they’re a citizen.” @CSalcedoShow pic.twitter.com/2IC0n7Y5ES
— NEWSMAX (@NEWSMAX) September 20, 2024
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), the chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations within the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, told reporters on Capitol Hill last week that the DHS refused to provide documents, witnesses, and other evidence to the Senate despite its purview over the matter.
“I am reaching a point of total outrage because the response from the Department of Homeland Security has been totally lacking. In fact, I think it’s tantamount to stonewalling in many respects,” Blumenthal told reporters Tuesday.
“I’m ready, willing, and able to use the subpoena power if necessary to get information from the Department of Homeland Security,” Blumenthal continued. “We have told them repeatedly about our frustration. I’m deeply dissatisfied and disappointed.”
Each chamber is running parallel investigations into the shooting attempts. Back in July, House Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green (R-TN) subpoenaed Mayorkas for documents related to the Butler case.
Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO), the top Democrat on the House task force investigating both assassination attempts, defended Mayorkas on Wednesday and said he had “seen no indication of any stonewalling or slow-walking by any of the agencies we’ve dealt with.”
Meanwhile, Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL), a GOP member of the task force, said the Secret Service has been “forthcoming about its failures” but placed blame at the feet of the Department of Justice. The FBI is running a federal investigation into the Butler shooting.
Following the first assassination attempt, Mayorkas attended a White House press briefing on July 15 and, soon after, appointed a panel to review the events of that day.
Although Mayorkas has not held a solo press conference on either incident, he has answered questions in a news interview and panel setting, at one point acknowledging the shooter should never have been able to obtain a “direct line of sight” to Trump.
Mayorkas has maintained throughout the Biden administration, including during a Politico panel last week, that the DHS was operating in a “heightened” threat environment.
A DHS spokesperson defended Mayorkas and the department in the wake of the two incidents and said it had provided more than 3,300 pages of documents and 50 hours of transcribed interviews since July 13.
“Claims that the Department is not being open and transparent are false and fail to recognize the robust response and ongoing work to meet Congress’ oversight requests, and our clear commitment to accountability for the events of July 13th,” the spokesperson said in a statement to the Washington Examiner on Monday evening.
This is not the first time lawmakers have been upset with Mayorkas. The Republican-controlled House impeached Mayorkas earlier this year on two counts related to his handling of the southern border, as millions of illegal immigrants have been arrested attempting to enter the United States during the Biden administration.
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Mayorkas is not slated to make his next public appearance until Wednesday when he will speak at the 2024 National Summit on K-12 School Safety and Security.
Meanwhile, Trump is slated to take the stage at a campaign rally in Savannah, Georgia, on Tuesday afternoon. The rally will be held at an indoor venue instead of outside, where Trump has historically held rallies.