Republican calls grow for Secret Service chief to step down over Trump shooting

Kimberly Cheatle under mounting pressure as reports suggest agency had been notified of threat an hour before

Calls from Republicans mounted on Wednesday for the head of the Secret Service, Kimberly Cheatle, to be replaced in the wake of the failure to prevent Donald Trump being shot last weekend, as fresh reports emerged that the gunman had aroused suspicions a considerable time before he took aim at the former president from a rooftop.

Mitch McConnell, the minority leader of the US Senate, wrote on X, formerly Twitter: The nation deserves answers and accountability. New leadership at the Secret Service would be an important step in that direction."