Who is acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe, agency's new chief after Kimberly Cheatle resignation?

BUTLER, Pa. – The deputy director of the U.S. Secret Service, Ronald Rowe Jr., has been appointed as the acting director of the embattled agency after Kimberly Cheatle announced her resignation.

Rowe testified on Tuesday, just over a week after Cheatle's testimony that ultimately led her to step down. 

Rowe has assumed the helm of the Secret Service as elected officials and the public grow increasingly wary of the agency following the assassination attempt on former President Trump.

Rowe, as acting director, has leaped into the forefront of the House Oversight Committee's investigation of the agency's failures that nearly allowed 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks to kill Trump during a Pennsylvania rally on Saturday, July 13.

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Ronald Rowe, acting director of the U.S. Secret Service, leaves the U.S. Capitol after a briefing with senators on Thursday, July 25, 2024. The former director, Kimberly Cheatle, resigned on Tuesday. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Cheatle announced her resignation amid bipartisan calls for her to step down following a contentious hearing with the House Oversight Committee on July 22.

"I take full responsibility for the security lapse. In light of recent events, it is with a heavy heart that I have made the difficult decision to step down as your director," she said in her resignation letter.

Rowe is now responsible for leading the more than 7,800 special agents, uniformed division officers and technical law enforcement officers, as well as administrative and technical staff.

Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle testifies before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee on July 22, 2024, in Washington, D.C. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Rowe, a 24-year veteran of the Secret Service, has served in a multitude of leadership positions within the agency.

Rowe was also assigned to the Presidential Protective Detail during the Bush administration from 2004 to 2008.

In a video from 2018, Rowe paid tribute to President George H.W. Bush on "Fox & Friends."

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In the clip, Rowe reminisces about the 43rd president, remembering when Bush shaved his head in honor of an agent's son who was battling a medical condition.

"That was in 2013, we had a member in our detail whose son had been diagnosed with a serious medical condition and the detail collectively made the decision to shave their heads in honor of the struggle the agent's son was going through," Rowe said. "Timberwolf, as his call sign was, decided to join in, and he shaved his head too."

"It truly was a touching tribute," Rowe said. "We were certainly honored by that."

U.S. Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe Jr. testifies at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the security failures leading to the July 13 attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at the U.S. Capitol, on July 30, 2024. (Chip Somodevilla)

Rowe also shared how being a Secret Service agent and being tasked with protecting the president and the president's family is an honor.

"You do develop that bond," Rowe said. "We see them after the lights, after the lights and the camera and the glitz and glamour of the presidency."

Director of the U.S. Secret Service Ronald Rowe Jr., right, and Deputy FBI Director Paul Abbate discuss whether funding issues factored into the security lapses surrounding the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump. (Tierney L. Cross/Bloomberg)

According to his bio, Rowe also was selected for a joint duty assignment to the National Intelligence Council in 2013, and he worked on the White House National Security Council as a National Security and Law Enforcement Policy Advisor in 2011.

Before his Secret Service tenure, Rowe was a member of the West Palm Beach Police Department in Florida.

West Palm Beach Assistant Police Chief Tony Spatara told CBS 12 that Rowe is "very intelligent" and "well-rounded."

"Knowing him personally, I am very proud he achieved his goal and then some in the Secret Service," Spatara said. "Ron is a very intelligent person who is well-rounded, has a multitude of experience."

Spatara told the local outlet that Rowe is up for the challenge of leading the agency, saying that they made the "correct decision in selecting him."

"I think he is the exact person. I think they made the correct decision in selecting him," he said. "I don’t know of a person in this country that’s more up to the task of taking on the challenge of what’s upcoming."

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas thanked Ronald Rowe Jr. for stepping in as acting director after Kimberly Cheatle resigned.

In a statement, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas thanked Rowe for stepping in during this "incredibly challenging moment" in the agency's history.

"I appreciate his willingness to lead the Secret Service at this incredibly challenging moment, as the agency works to get to the bottom of exactly what happened on July 13 and cooperate with ongoing investigations and Congressional oversight," Mayorkas said.

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"The Secret Service is the greatest protective service in the world, with one of the most difficult and solemn missions in government," he said. "I have the utmost confidence in Deputy Director Rowe and the men and women of the Secret Service, who put their lives on the line every day and deserve our full support."

Former President Trump is rushed offstage after being shot during a rally on July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

President Biden is now tasked with picking the next Secret Service leader, announcing that he plans to make his pick "soon."

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"The independent review to get to the bottom of what happened on July 13 continues, and I look forward to assessing its conclusions. We all know what happened that day can never happen again," Biden wrote. "As we move forward, I wish Kim all the best, and I will plan to appoint a new Director soon."