The White House should pay attention when someone like Maryland Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings calls for change in the Secret Service and the security it provides to the first family, Rep. Trey Gowdy told Fox News' "America's Newsroom."
Cummings and Gowdy both serve on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that held a hearing Tuesday to question Secret Service Director Julia Pierson about lapses in security by the department's agents.
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Cummings on Wednesday told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" that he was "not impressed" by Pierson's testimony, and said he no longer felt "comfortable with her in that position" of Secret Service director.
"When Elijah Cummings says that he has lost confidence in someone, the White House better pay attention. He's hardly a tea party Republican. He does not criticize the administration unless it is warranted. And, he has lost confidence in Director Pierson's leadership," Gowdy said Wednesday.
In September, Iraq war veteran Omar Gonzalez, wielding a knife, jumped the fence and made it into the White House, and was not apprehended until he had made it deep into the East Room of the building. Also in September, an armed private security contractor and former convict was in an elevator with President Barack Obama at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
In addition, it was revealed that in 2011 a sniper shot several times at the outside of the White House, and the incident was not identified until a housekeeper found evidence of damage to the inside of the residence several days later.
Gowdy said he hoped the president "would be tired of seeing a very well respected, longstanding institution like the Secret Service, essentially, be the butt of jokes," adding Obama should see the need to "move in another direction with a new leader and change the culture of the Secret Service."
Gowdy explained Tuesday's hearing was "very hard for me," because he didn't enjoy "criticizing law enforcement." He said he didn't "understand this culture that is existing in the Secret Service right now," and credited fellow Republican Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz with bringing details about the problems to light.
Chaffetz, also a member of the House Oversight Committee, learned details about the White House fence jumper from whistleblowers that conflicted with information previously released by the Secret Service, according to
CNN.
"I don't like to give credit to members of Congress very often, but if it weren't for Jason Chaffetz, I don't know that we would know any of this," Gowdy said.
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