The Secret Service has been dodging accountability for months.
But one Tennessee Senator wasn’t going to let them off the hook.
And Marsha Blackburn asked one scary question that left the Secret Service sweating bullets.
Secret Service finally suspends six agents without pay
The Secret Service announced that it suspended six personnel without pay for their failures during the assassination attempt on President Donald Trump last July in Pennsylvania.¹
The agency has been under intense scrutiny since a gunman opened fire at Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024.
The shooter managed to get on a rooftop with a clear line of sight to the former President and nearly succeeded in killing him.
Trump was grazed by a bullet that came within inches of ending his life.
The Secret Service’s failures that day were so glaring that even Democrats couldn’t defend the agency.
But it took the agency nearly a year to take any meaningful action against the agents who failed to protect the President.
Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) has been leading the charge to get answers about what went wrong that day.
She told Newsmax that she’s frustrated by the lack of transparency from the Secret Service.
“It is very frustrating that we do not have answers,” Blackburn said during an appearance on “Newsline.”²
The Tennessee Senator made it clear that suspending agents without pay isn’t enough.
She wants to know if heads will roll once FBI Director Kash Patel completes his investigation.
Blackburn demands real accountability from the Secret Service
Blackburn didn’t mince words when she talked about what needs to happen next.
“I think it will be important to know if, after the FBI, led by Kash Patel, completes their investigation, that if at that point, Secret Service members will be terminated,” she said.²
The Senator highlighted the obvious question that the Secret Service has been dancing around for months.
“The fact we are trying to get these answers is a little bit frustrating. I don’t know when the people were put on leave. I know that it was for varying times. I do know it was without pay,” Blackburn explained.²
She’s right to be frustrated.
The American people deserve to know exactly what went wrong and who’s being held accountable.
The Secret Service has been playing games with Congress and the public for nearly a year now.
They’ve provided vague briefings and non-answers while the agents responsible for the security failures continued to collect paychecks.
Blackburn made it clear that she wants to ensure the team protecting President Trump is up to the task.
“I want to make certain the team around the president is tight, that they are focused, that they are taking care of him and that they are protecting him,” she stated.²
“That is the imperative. Just as we are hopeful that the Secret Service and with all of their protectees, that they are focused on them,” she added.²
The Secret Service’s credibility is shot
The assassination attempt on Trump exposed massive security failures that should never have happened.
The shooter was able to get on a rooftop just 150 yards from where Trump was speaking.
Local law enforcement spotted the gunman and radioed about the threat, but the Secret Service failed to act quickly enough.
The agency’s own communications were a disaster that day.
Multiple security perimeters were breached, and basic protocols weren’t followed.
It was a miracle that Trump survived the attack.
The Secret Service’s reputation has been in tatters ever since.
Former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned in disgrace after her disastrous congressional testimony.
She couldn’t answer basic questions about what went wrong and tried to blame local law enforcement for the failures.
But the buck stops with the Secret Service when it comes to protecting the President.
Now with six agents suspended without pay, the agency is finally taking some action.
But Blackburn is right to push for more accountability.
The American people need to know that the agents responsible for such catastrophic failures will face real consequences.
President Trump’s life was nearly taken because of these failures.
Suspensions without pay are a start, but terminations might be what’s really needed to restore confidence in the Secret Service.
Blackburn’s tough questions are exactly what the situation demands.
The Secret Service needs to stop playing games and start providing real answers about how they failed so spectacularly.
Sources: ¹ Newsmax, “Secret Service Suspends Six Personnel Without Pay Over Trump Assassination Attempt Failures,” July 10, 2025. ² Solange Reyner, “Blackburn to Newsmax: Still Trying to Get Answers About Trump Assassination Attempt,” Newsmax, July 10, 2025.
