In the wake of the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, the U.S. Secret Service has been heavily scrutinized for allowing such an event to take place. 

Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle has been at the forefront of the criticism leveled at the federal agency, and found herself squarely in the bullseye this week at a congressional hearing.

Calls for her resignation came in from both sides of the political aisle, as many members of Congress pondered just how safe they were themselves under Cheatle's lead, let alone current and former presidents.

While it took several days of incredible pressure, Cheatle finally threw in the towel on Tuesday and, according to Fox News, announced she would resign from her position.

What's going on?

Media outlets broke the news on Tuesday morning after many of them had obtained an internal letter Cheatle sent to Secret Service employees announcing she would be stepping down.

The resignation announcement came less than 24 hours after she took an absolute bipartisan beating on Capitol Hill at a testimony before the House Oversight Committee.

In her resignation letter to her colleagues, she admitted that the agency -- regarded as one of the most professional and best in the world -- "failed" on July 13 when the 20-year-old shooter nearly took Trump's life from a rooftop located just 500 feet from where the president was speaking.

"To the Men and Women of the U.S. Secret Service, The Secret Service’s solemn mission is to protect our nation’s leaders and financial infrastructure," Cheatle wrote in a letter to the agency. "On July 13th, we fell short on that mission."

Good News: #Cheatle Resigns #SecretService Credit to Dems for joining Reps in condemnation on EPIC security failure ⬇️

I’ve worked for 2 US Presidents & never saw such lack of security. Look how close that Bldg is the shooter was on. No excuse for area not being totally secure pic.twitter.com/WHAeHLaMK3

— Jenny Korn (@JennySKorn) July 23, 2024

"As your Director, I take full responsibility for the security lapse," she added, noting that pressure on the agency will continue to ramp as more questions are raised about the events that led up to that day.

Social media reacts

Users across social media, who had called for Cheatle's resignation long before she actually did it, cheered her exit, leaving no room for forgiveness.

"She took a beating and decided she couldn't do it anymore. Congress finally accomplished something," one X user wrote.

Another X user wrote, "That was excellent. She had no choice but to resign."

Many are also calling for an investigation into Cheatle and the agency, so her time in the spotlight might not be over just yet.