A group of GOP senators confronted Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday evening, demanding she resign or answer their questions about security failures that led to Saturday's assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, Tennessee Republican, posted a video on X of an exchange she and other GOP senators had with Ms. Cheatle expressing their frustration at her leadership and refusal to answer questions. The confrontation, which also included Sens. John Barrasso of Wyoming, James Lankford of Oklahoma and Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, came after Ms. Cheatle participated in separate virtual briefings with Senate and House lawmakers on Wednesday afternoon.

Ms. Cheatle and Secret Service Deputy Director Ronald Rowe had told lawmakers on the briefing that agents had flagged a suspicious person with a range finder and a backpack before the rally began. That person later turned out to be 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, who fired multiple rounds at Mr. Trump and grazed the former president's ear with a bullet. Cooks killed one rallygoer and critically injured two others before the Secret Service shot him dead.

Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle should be out of a job now. Her agency failed to protect former President Donald Trump, who was nearly assassinated in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13. A rooftop with a clear vantage point to the stage at the rally was never secured or even swept—all of this when the location was flagged as a security vulnerability. Trump escaped death that day, missing getting hit with a fatal headshot by millimeters. Why wasn't the roof secure? Cheatle said that the sloped roof was a safety concern. I'm not kidding: Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle has come up with an excuse: It would have been too dangerous to put snipers on the roof because it was sloped.

Republican senators, including a member of the Senate's leadership, accosted the director of the Secret Service in a suite at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday night, demanding that she resign or provide a full explanation for the security lapses that led to the near-miss assassination attempt against former President Donald J. Trump.

Senators John Barrasso of Wyoming, the third-ranking Senate Republican, and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee aggressively confronted the agency's director, Kimberly A. Cheatle, at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee. A staff member for one of the senators videotaped the confrontation and sent it to a reporter. The video, which Ms. Blackburn also posted on X, shows Mr. Barrasso berating Ms. Cheatle over why Mr. Trump was allowed to go onstage for his Saturday evening rally in Butler, Pa., when authorities had already identified as suspicious a man who turned out to be the shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks.

You put him within less than an inch of his life, Mr. Barrasso said to Ms. Cheatle, almost yelling. So resignation or full explanation. Cheatle ran off like a scared wombat. Every day brings a new update on this assassination attempt—all of it damning for the Secret Service. When Department of Homeland Security Director Alejandro Mayorkas said he had full confidence in her, you knew no firings would happen. She's Jill Biden's best gal pal. And we all know Joe won't do anything to make Lady Macbeth angry. Cheatle said the buck stopped with her but then refused to take responsibility for the glaring security lapses that almost got Trump killed and left one man dead and two others wounded.

The Republican National Convention has been a great event so far with everyone coming together in unity behind former President Donald Trump and Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) for the Republican ticket. There have been fun and inspiring moments, including Trump's emotional entry into the hall just two days after Saturday's assassination attempt. The things that have come out about the shooter and what the Secret Service knew—and when they knew it—have infuriated Americans. The latest news is that the Secret Service had Thomas Matthew Crooks, the shooter, on their radar and was aware he was a threat at least ten minutes before Trump walked out on the stage—but they still let the former president walk out. That was on top of the news that law enforcement had been aware of Crooks for some time beforehand. Local law enforcement took pictures of him by 5:45, 26 minutes before the shooting. And they had even taken another photo of him an hour earlier than that.

Sen. John Barrasso said he and Blackburn went face-to-face with Cheatle, asking for answers about how that shooter was able to get off a clear shot when the FBI and SS knew that there was a suspicious person an hour in advance of when the shooting occurred. Before she left the suite, Cheatle said she didn't think it was the right place for the discussion. She said the suite was provided to thank the partners that have helped secure the Republican National Convention, and I would not want to take away from their evening. Blackburn said it was appalling that Cheatle wouldn't answer their questions. This is one of the greatest security failures in the history of the agency, she said. She can run but she cannot hide. She is a failed leader and she needs to immediately step down from her position. In a statement, Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said, Continuity of operations is paramount during a critical incident and Cheatle does not plan to step down. House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell also called for Cheatle's resignation on Wednesday.