Kimberly Cheatle claims she never said Secret Service needs to be a third female—committed to 30% women by 2030

Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle was pressed on DEI targets for women in the agency during a congressional hearing on Monday. Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-WI) asked the USSS director why she had a target of having a "third" of the employees in the USSS be women. This is despite the agency pledging to be 30 percent women by 2030. 

Grothman asked, "Can you elaborate why you want a third of Secret Service to be women?" 

Cheatle answered saying "I've never stated that I want one-third of the Secret Service to be women," a third would be 33 percent. However, under her leadership, the USSS joined the 30X30 initiative, a pledge that commits law enforcement agencies to hire 30 percent female recruits by the year 2030. DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has also stumped for this in part, saying that the DHS, which is over USSS, has pledged to "recruit, retain, and elevate women" in law enforcement.

In another question from Grothman when he asked about the agency's efforts to "change the makeup" of the USSS, Cheatle responded by saying that USSS is "hiring the best-qualified candidates that put in an application" to the USSS. 

Rep. Michael (R-TX) Cloud also asked about the USSS having DEI being one of the goals of the agency. Cheatle said that all agents in the USSS have the same application standards when they are hired at the USSS. The questions from Grothman and others during the hearing regarding the quotas of hiring women to the agency comes after three women were seen on the day that there was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump. 

Many pointed out online that some of the women in the USSS detail could not properly cover the whole body of the president when he took cover as the women were shorter than the six-foot-three GOP nominee. Trump was accompanied by a group of USSS agents that was notbly more male after the assassination attempt.