When a bullet grazed President Donald Trump’s ear, Congress immediately launched an investigation into how a gunman was able to pull the trigger. Two attempts later, and lawmakers are now less interested in taking swift action.
There have been some calls to hold hearings or launch an investigation as conspiracies swirled online after a third alleged assassination attempt over the weekend at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.
“I think it’s — for the most part, it’s a waste of time,” Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., told Fox News Digital. “Security was in place. The boy didn’t pass. Not even close.”
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Unlike the first assassination attempt against President Donald Trump, Republicans are in no rush to hold public hearings and launch an investigation into the latest attempt on his life at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner over the weekend.
(Reuters)
Top lawmakers on the House Oversight and Senate Judiciary Committees met with Secret Service Director Sean Curran this week for briefings, but have so far stopped short of calling for hearings or a full-scale investigation.
Two years ago, when a gunman tried and failed to assassinate Trump on the campaign trail in Butler, Pennsylvania, two major bipartisan investigations were launched to address the failures of the Secret Service and other agencies and to find out how a gunman came so close to ending Trump’s life.
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And in the case of Ryan Routh, who was caught with a rifle in another attempt against Trump while he was playing golf a few months after he shot Butler at his club in Florida, lawmakers combined that investigation with their ongoing investigation into the first attack.
After the weekend shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) annual dinner, where a gunman was thwarted when he tried to enter the packed ballroom where Trump, his cabinet, Vice President J.D. Vance and several reporters were seated, lawmakers are in no rush to find out what happened this time.
Trump’s appearance on Saturday is the first time he has decided to attend the dinner while serving as president — he has been twice in the past. After the cancellation of the dinner, he also promised to reschedule the program within the next 30 days in a press conference.
The alleged shooter, Cole Allen, passed the security checkpoint with a rifle, handgun and several knives on his person. But the Secret Service was able to neutralize the suspect before he ever entered the ballroom where Trump was sitting.
Still, some Republicans are demanding a full review of the incident or at least a hearing.
Republicans have scrambled to fund the Secret Service after Trump’s assassination attempt amid a record-breaking shutdown
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., questions U.S. Secret Service Acting Director Ronald Roe Jr. and Deputy FBI Director Paul Abbate during a hearing of the Joint Senate Judiciary and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committees in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill, July 30, 2024.
“I mean, this is the third assassination attempt on a president in two years,” Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., told Fox News Digital. “You know, we have to look carefully at all the procedures and protocols.”
Hawley wants Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Rand Paul, R-Ky., to hold a hearing on the president’s security after the shooting.
The same committee led an investigation into Butler’s efforts and determined that the shooting was preventable and due to a series of failures in security protocols, planning and funding, among many others.
The bipartisan inquiry resulted in more than 40 recommendations for actions to be taken to prevent future recurrences.
Paul did not seem ready to rush into hearing the matter. He told Fox News Digital that lawmakers investigated that effort for more than a year and believed the investigation “arrived at many bits of wisdom, insight and advice.”
“I think there are items from this that need to be reviewed and improved,” Paul said. “We’re getting a briefing from the Secret Service about what we’re learning from this effort, and we’ll decide after that if we need to do anything more. But absolutely, the Secret Service needs to investigate and see what they can do to keep the president safe.”
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Like Hawley, Rep. Ralph Norman, RS.C. There are many questions about how the gunman was able to blow past security measures and fears of what might happen next.
“When is it going to be a suicide bomber? When is it going to be an army of people behind one person and blow up a whole building? Look, here we are, and I have questions about three assassination attempts,” Norman told Fox News Digital.
Sen. Rand Paul speaks to reporters before entering the Senate chamber to vote in the U.S. Capitol on March 4, 2026.
Meanwhile, skepticism is mounting online as to whether the latest attempt on Trump’s life was genuine. Many users are claiming that the event is “staged”.
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“Some of these … need serious help,” Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, told Fox News Digital.
Moreno was comfortable that White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles would lead a “necessary and important conversation” about the Correspondents’ Dinner incident, but Democrats rebuffed any attempt to push for answers.
“If there’s a Democrat having that conversation, you can f— off that they’re not funding. [the Department of Homeland Security]Moreno said.
Original article source: After a third assassination attempt, debate rages over whether the Trump attack warrants another investigation
