In a rare showing of bipartisanship, the House Oversight Committee hearing on Monday regarding "Oversight of the U.S. Secret Service and the Attempted Assassination of President Donald J. Trump" featured calls for Secret Service Director Kim Cheatle's resignation from both Republican and Democrat members of Congress. 

While Cheatle kept a calm, professional demeanor throughout very heated questioning, she largely deflected and declined to give specific answers to critical questions from Republicans and Democrats alike, and the frustration over her apparent inability (or unwillingness) to answer questions was palpable. 

And while Democratic members of the committee attempted to roll the concept of gun control into their questioning, unlike many such oversight hearings, the bulk of the inquiry was into pertinent details — calling for answers most Americans have as to what went wrong here.

WATCH: Dem Rep's Brutal Grilling of Kim Cheatle
Exposes Huge Response Problem of Secret Service

Notable were direct calls from Democratic members of the committee for Cheatle to resign. In addition to her brutal grilling by Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), Cheatle faced calls to resign from Rep. Kweisi Mfume (D-MD) and from Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA).

Dem Rep. Kweisi Mfume: "People just assume that whoever is in charge takes full responsibility when there has never been... this sort of failure."

Uh yeah, the person in charge is responsible for everything that happens under them. pic.twitter.com/EVWSZsmhRj

— Media Research Center (@theMRC) July 22, 2024

During his questioning, Mfume noted: 

People just assume that whoever is in charge takes full responsibility when there has never been — at least on this magnitude and scale — this sort of failure. So when members ask you, "Are you going to resign?" and you say you have no intention to, they are perplexed like many people who watch what's going on.

Later, Khanna was even more direct in his call for Cheatle to resign, likening the July 13 attempt on Trump to the 1981 assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan. 

KHANNA: "Do you know what Stuart Knight [who was in charge of the Secret Service when Reagan was shot] did? Do you know what he did afterwards?"

CHEATLE: "He remained on duty."

KHANNA: "He resigned." pic.twitter.com/o4B8RSFc5L

— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) July 22, 2024

KHANNA: Now, Director Cheatle, would you agree that this is the most serious security lapse since President Reagan was shot in 1981 — of the Secret Service?

CHEATLE: Yes, sir, I would.

KHANNA: And...do you know what Stuart Knight did when — he was in charge, at the time, of the Secret Service — do you know what he did...afterwards?

CHEATLE: He remained on duty.

KHANNA: He resigned. He resigned. And Stuart Knight was not a Democratic appointee or Republican appointee. Look, I'm not questioning your judgment — I just don't think this is partisan. If you have an assassination attempt on a president, a former president, or a candidate, you need to resign. That's what Stuart Knight did. He was a Republican appointee, and he took responsibility. And I think you need to reflect. This is not a question of you; it's a question of the American people. You cannot go leading a Secret Service agency when there is an assassination attempt on a presidential candidate.

Khanna's apparent contradiction regarding Knight's appointment notwithstanding (he was appointed in 1973, during Richard Nixon's presidency), his point was clear. Knight was accountable and took responsibility after the failed attempt on Reagan's life. Cheatle's resistance in this instance, following what she acknowledges were colossal failures on the part of her agency is rather perplexing, though one suspects after the thrashing she's received in this hearing, she may be inclined to reconsider. 

Editor's Note: This article was updated to reflect the correct spelling of Rep. Mfume's first name. We apologize for the error.