WATCH: Sen. Cruz asks Rowe about Trump Secret Service staffing requests

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, spoke in a hearing Tuesday where U.S. Secret Service acting director Ronald Rowe and FBI deputy director Paul Abbate testified on the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump.
Cruz questioned whether Trump’s security detail was denied a request for more Secret Service agents at events repeatedly since 2021.
“The Trump team had not asked for additional security, and had not been rebuffed?” Cruz pressed Rowe.
Rowe said all requests for Trump’s rally in Butler, the site of the attempted assassination, had been approved.
“There were times when assets were unavailable and not able to be filled and those gaps were staffed with state and local law enforcement tactical assets,” Rowe said.
Cruz then told Rowe he believed the decision to deny the Trump security team’s requests was politically motivated.
“Senator, what I will tell you is that Secret Service agents are not political,” Rowe said.
The joint hearing of the Senate Homeland Security and Senate Judiciary Committee was the latest to examine what investigators have learned about the shooter who attempted to assassinate Trump at a Pennsylvania campaign rally, as well as the security failures that preceded the deadly shooting.
Rowe, who since 2023 had been serving as deputy director of the Secret Service, was appointed acting director after Kimberly Cheatle’s resignation.
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